Monthly Archives: April 2010

Longtime KIRO Weatherman Harry Wappler Dies at 73

Harry Wappler was one of my favorite on-air meteorologists. Definitely someone an aspiring weatherman would look up to. My condolences to the Wappler and KIRO News families.

(Copied from the AP)

SEATTLE – Longtime former KIRO-TV meteorologist Harry Wappler has died.

KIRO-TV reports that Wappler, 73, who worked at the station for 33 years, died Wednesday at Overlake Hospital.

Wappler joined the television station in 1969. He was the face of weather coverage there until he retired in 2002.

He graduated from Northwestern University and earned a graduate degree at Yale Divinity School. Wappler was also an ordained Episcopal priest.

“Harry was just a remarkably wonderful person,” said KOMO Weathercaster Steve Pool. “I don’t think that man had a mean bone in his body. He was so supportive of me when I just started. Even though we were across the street, we were kindred that we did the same thing and were both supportive of each other. He will be missed.”

After his retirement in 2002, his son Andy took over as Chief Meteorologist at KIRO until 2008.

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New Long Range Update Gives Clues Into Summer 2010

**I don’t leave for another two weeks, but I will have a blog about my 2 year mission trip to South Africa and Namibia, full of pictures, videos and stories, so if you are interested in my adventures there, e-mail me and I’ll give you the link!**

Hello, bloggers! It’s been a while. I’ve been busily preparing for my mission to South Africa and have been sick a few days in between, so time hasn’t necessarily been as free as I would like it to be. But, I’m glad I’ve been able to find some time to fill you in on not only the short term, but long term weather, which includes SUMMER!

SHORT TERM

Ok, so what gives? Yesterday was, in my opinion, perfection. Bremerton Airport recorded a very comfortable 68 degrees under partly sunny skies  with a slight breeze. Funny thing is, 65 degrees is about the average winter high temperature in Cape Town! Yeah I’ll miss the snow, but I’m going to be doing a lot of walking and biking, so 60’s every day in the winter is OK with me 😉

Today we’ve slammed on the breaks and introduced some drizzle and cloudy skies, but we’ll clear up a little later on and nice, kinda-warm weather will return tomorrow. The rest of the week will be showery with highs near 60 every day.

LONG TERM

Ready for summer? My favorite long term weather guru, Brett Anderson of AccuWeather, has given his model interpretation on what we should be looking out for this summer season. Here’s what I got from his outlook:

Near normal temperatures and precipitation on the West Coast in May and June, dry and warm in July, though model details are a lot less clear for the West coast during this month for whatever reason, a normally warm and dry August and a wetter, slightly cooler than normal September.

Not bad news at all! It’s looking like a pretty normal summer season is headed our way, though I’d keep my eye on July. Model details are unclear so that means we may have another shot at some more heat records falling? 😉

Have a great weekend!

Matthew Leach

Forecasting Kitsap

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: forecastingkitsap@live.com

P.S. Figured I might as well mention this too: sadly, I am selling my beloved 2001 Ford Mustang because I don’t want it sitting in the driveway for 2 years being unused. If you are interested in a smokin’ hot ride…let me know! 😉

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SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT: Cool, Blustery Storm #2 for Thursday

This is a very brief blog post from me. I’ve been busier than ever preparing for my mission trip in less than a month, so I’ve been pretty preoccupied. Regardless, you need to know of up-to-the-minute severe weather updates so I must learn how to juggle the two! I haven’t had a lot of time to do research on the latest in a series of storms pegged for Thursday, so until I do, I think the National Weather Service’s SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT will do for now 😉

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 403 PM PDT TUE APR 6 2010 

 …STRONG LOWLAND WINDS AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW POSSIBLE THURSDAY…

ANOTHER VIGOROUS COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON ON THURSDAY BRINGING COOL AND BLUSTERY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA. GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS MAY DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA AS THE SURFACE LOW PASSES THROUGH SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA THURSDAY MORNING. THE STRONGEST WINDS MAY OCCUR THOUGH THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA AND ADMIRALTY INLET AREA AS A STRONG WESTERLY SURGE DEVELOPS THROUGH THE STRAIT. IN ADDITION…THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO BRING COOLER AIR INTO THE REGION WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING DOWN TO PASS LEVELS. HEAVY SNOW IN THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND STRONG ONSHORE FLOW. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS MAY RANGE FROM 1 TO 2 FEET BY FRIDAY MORNING…MAKING TRAVEL DIFFICULT ONCE AGAIN ACROSS THE CASCADES.

STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES ON THIS SYSTEM.

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No April Fools: Damaging Winds, Heavy Rain and…Slushy Snow!

Updated 12:00 PM

The National Weather Service has issued a statement of concern with this developing windstorm. It appears it has taken an abrupt southerly track, which could result in damaging winds to the area (up to 60 mph):

Says the Seattle NWS:  “THE CONCERN IS THAT THE SYSTEM HAS ENOUGH EWD MOMENTUM TO FUNNEL THESE STRONGER WINDS THROUGH THE CHEHALIS GAP…REACHING INTO THE PUGET SOUND REGION AS THE BENT BACK LIFTS THROUGH. THIS SCENARIO COULD GIVE A SHORT 1-2 HOUR PERIOD OF HIGH WIND IN THE PUGET SOUND REGION.

Astoria is reporting gusts up to 40 MPH at this moment, which means winds should filter through the Chehalis Gap shortly and stir things up in the Puget Sound area over the next couple hours.

Updated: 9:30 AM

The Leach Family got back from Wyoming last night just in time for another potent spring storm that seemed to develop out of nowhere…especially the wet snowflakes that are falling outside my window right now.

So let’s address that first. We had just enough cold air trapped last night to produce some mixed rain and snow showers this morning as heavier precipitation moves through ahead of the main front. Some folks in Seabeck have reported an inch and half of snow on the ground, while others, like folks in Tracyton, are reporting rain. At my house in Silverdale, it’s snowing heavily with a trace on the grass and bark.

The mixed precip and snow will end later this morning as southerly winds kick up and the big storm arrives. Historically speaking, this could be the strongest late-season storm since March 30th, 1997 when a windy system struck the area and killed 2 people. The National Weather Service has issued a HIGH WIND WARNING for the Hood Canal area with winds gusting as high as 60 mph and a WIND ADVISORY for the greater Seattle area until 6 PM for the main Puget Sound area, meaning sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts between 45 and 55 mph.

The heaviest rain will occur this morning, sharing the spotlight with the snow, turning to lighter rain as the day wears on.

The forecast for the rest of the week? Mostly cloudy, chilly, and wet with mountain snow continuing. Wednesday of next week is shaping up to be warmer and drier with each model run, so we’ll see what happens with that. I think many of us wouldn’t mind a break!

Be safe and stay warm during the storm!

Matthew Leach

Forecasting Kitsap

Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: forecastingkitsap@live.com

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