More Snow, Ice and a Little Color

And Snowmageddon Continues......


Ice -

Icy Rivulets on Back Porch Screen

National Weather Service issued an ominous emergency warning today.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
1039 AM PST THU JAN 19 2012

.A WARM FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD RAIN OVER PORTIONS OF
WESTERN WASHINGTON THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES
WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING WITH FREEZING RAIN EXPECTED AT THE
SURFACE. AREAS FARTHER NORTH INCLUDING EVERETT...ADMIRALTY INLET
AND EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA WILL SEE SNOW AT TIMES.
PRECIPITATION WILL EASE THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL
GRADUALLY MODERATE TONIGHT...RISING ABOVE FREEZING. ANOTHER STRONG
SYSTEM WILL BRING HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS ON FRIDAY.

WAZ504-505-508-509-511-512-192200-
/O.CON.KSEW.IS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-120119T2200Z/
SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-HOOD CANAL AREA-
LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-
1039 AM PST THU JAN 19 2012

...ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM PST THIS
AFTERNOON..

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS...SEATTLE...OLYMPIA...TACOMA..
  BREMERTON AND BELLEVUE.

But, on the fun side..........

Snowmen - 

Double Snow People in Paramount Park
Meadow. About 4-5" Wednesday.

And more beautiful scenes.......

Littles Creek in Paramount Park

And more snow.....

Upper Pond at Paramount Park with Fabulous
Winter Style

Wetland color.....

Upper Wetland area has streaks of "peat color".
It is a true wetland that does it's job of retaining and cleaning
huge amounts of groundwater.

And a little more color.......

"High Bush Cranberry" in Paramount Park
wetland walk area.

Ooops! More Snow Than They Expected and Now Wind and Ice!

So the weather stations said it wouldn't be that bad! But apparently it's getting pretty nasty out there.

Today was just a lovely peaceful walk in the snow. But tonite things are getting dicey. 


We now have about 3" at Paramount Park at 8:30 pm. 
(if you have any photos send me some!)

Here's the latest from local Meteorologist Cliff Mass -
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/

Thing are really getting interesting now. See the surface chart above at 2 PM. The low center is MUCH stronger than the model's predicted. Around 999 mb and is now located over the Olympic Peninsula...as a result southwesterly winds are picking up in the south Sound and the northerlies are strengthening to the north. The collided airstreams are causing enhanced vertical motion and precipitation. Look at the radar...a line of very heavy reflectivities...and snow intensities has formed south of Seattle. Strong northerly flow is now striking the northern portion of the Olympic Peninsula and very heavy snow is falling on its northern side (6-10 inches so far in some places!!!!)

The show is not over yet.

Here is a neat time-lapse of snow in Silverdale. Looking west across Hood Canal
http://www.drdale.com/lapse/lapse101122.mov
Courtesy of Dale Ireland