Weather with Cliff Mass

Virtually all major wildfires west of the Cascade crest occur from mid-August to mid-September.  But why?   I will explain in this podcast.  And I will tell you about some surprising findings regarding the effects of global warming on westside fires in our region.  In addition, I will give you the latest forecast, which includes a beautiful weekend, but a cooling trend on Monday and Tuesday.

La Nina is coming and in this podcast, I will you all about it, including its implications for our summer weather.  And I will also describe the forecast, with near-normal temperature for the next few days.

This podcast provides my take on the new IPCC climate report and the big changes in the weather we will experience during the next week.   The new climate report is actually quite optimistic about future climate change and far less apocalyptic than many media reports.   The smoky weather of today will clear up by Monday, with normal temperatures returning.  I also talk about the wild local heatwave yesterday in Bellingham.

This podcast starts with a dramatically changing forecast, where we go from cool/wet conditions to another heatwave.  In the second, half I examine claims about a dominant global warming origin of the June heatwave.  It simply isn't true and I tell you why.

Be ready for weather whiplash.  In western Washington over the next week, we will go from a minor heatwave to much cooler conditions and some light rain.  East of the Cascades, temperatures over 100F today will transition to a regime of scattered thunderstorms associated with a plume of moisture from the southwest.   In the second segment, I will tell you about the basics of regional thunderstorms and why we are so thunderstorm deficient in our region.

How does wildfire smoke move in the atmosphere?  Why does smoke sometimes travel thousands of miles and what controls whether wildfire smoke reaches the surface?  I will talk about all of these things and more in my podcast.  Plus, the forecast, which can only be described as meteorological perfection.

We are now entering the driest period of the year climatologically.  Amazingly dry.  And in my podcast, I tell you why!   I also review the forecast for the next week, a period that should be relatively cool, with morning low clouds west of the Cascade crest, and clean air for Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland.

This is sea breeze season in the Pacific Northwest and my podcast will tell the story.  In fact, we have some of the strongest sea breezes in the country and they come in a wide variety of sizes and strengths.   My podcast also provides the forecast, including typical weather over the weekend and the potential for a cool/moist period next weekend.

There has been much speculation that the severe heatwave of the past week was the result of global warming.  The truth is that global warming played a very minor role.   I will provide evidence for this in my podcast.  And I will also provide the latest forecast for the July 4 weekend!

My podcast describes the reasons behind the high temperature records expected on Sunday and Monday.