02.16.10
Record Warm Weather in Vancouver
Not to sound like a broken record, but while the southern US is enduring more cold air today and expecting more probably later on in this week or next, the northwestern US and much of Canada is enjoying (or not, if you’re an Olympic skier) record warm temperatures.
Vancouver’s normal temperature for today is 46.4 °F (8 °C). Any time you hear “normal” in reference to the weather or climate, that means the weather variable was averaged over a 30-year-period, currently 1971 to 2000. Today’s observed high was 54.3 °F (12.4 °C), only 0.4 °F (0.2 °C) below a record temperature!
Seattle is 3.8 °F warmer than normal this month. For the Ellensburg/Yakima area in central Washington, back where I grew up, the average monthly temperatures this year for January and February (so far) are 36.0 °F and 41.3 °F. Contrast that with the normal average temperatures for January and February: 29.8 °F and 36.0 °F (or even last year, 30.2 °F and 34.8 °F). It’s pretty clear to see that temperatures in the Northwest (and Canada) are well above normal this winter.
What’s in store for the next couple of weeks or so?
Below is an 8-14-day forecast temperature map of the US (from the Climate Prediction Center); blue shading indicates temperatures below normal. All I can say is it’s warmer in southern Alaska than it is here in Oklahoma.
Below shows an updated map (click to enlarge) of Canada’s 10-day temperature outlook–what a surprise, more above-normal weather for the rest of the Olympics! Bad news for outdoor events at Cypress Mountain, near Vancouver…but the mountains around Whistler are at least experiencing record snowfall, ironically.
