Weather Channel calls for “much colder” than normal temperatures this fall
September 24th, 2012 by Matthew Leach
Hello everyone! I’ve been meaning to issue a fall forecast of my own for the past couple weeks, but one thing has piled on another and I haven’t completed my draft! However, by Wednesday you’ll see the final results of what I am observing and what I think that will mean for you in the coming months.
In the mean time, I thought many of you would like to know the
Weather Channel’s take on the situation since, after all, they are
slightly more well known, credible and famous than myself 
But I’d sure like to duel it out with
them when it comes to predicting Kitsap’s weather!
Ahem…where were we? Oh yes. The Weather Channel. In a news release just hours ago, Dr. Todd Crawford, Chief Meteorologist of Weather Services International (WSI), expounds on the ever declining El Nino and how it may actually play the opposite effect than first anticipated. This means much of the west could be caught in a chilly early season grip while the eastern states could bask in above to much above normal temperatures.
In fact, December is projected to average “much below normal” in the Northwest, much to the pleasure of skiers and snowboarders here! (By the way, “normal” is considered anything higher than the 1981-2010 historical average)
Take from this what you will. It IS a 3 month long range forecast after all:
(We’re having issues with the link, so you will have to copy and paste this into the address bar. Sorry for the inconvenience!)
www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/late-fall-early-winter-outlook-20120924
As for us in the present day? Well…I don’t know how many ways I
can present it to you without it sounds monotonous. The next 7 days looks pretty typical of
late September: morning clouds, drizzle, partial clearing in the
afternoon and highs reaching the upper 60s and lower 70s. This will
be the case until about Thursday when a weak ridge of high pressure
builds in and boosts temperatures up a notch into the low to mid
70s.
The long range is interesting, but I prefer to leave it at that.
There are certainly signs for a pattern change once we enter
October, but let’s not get too carried away 
For now, enjoy what we have! Several forecasting agencies don’t
seem to think it’ll last much longer
Matthew Leach
Forecasting Kitsap
forecastingkitsap@live.com
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
September 26th, 2012 at 11:16 am
I remember a winter sometime around 77-79, where although it was bitterly cold around here, there was little or no precipitation through the winter. There was no joy in the mountains for sking, nor in the Eastern Washington orchards when the runoff didn’t come the following spring.
September 26th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
I was kind of leaning that direction for this winter, actually! There just aren’t many strong signals leading to an exceptionally wet period anytime too soon. But, with the El Nino weakening, the jet stream should sag and allow for more precip over the coming months.
But that’s pretty unusual! Dry and cold for an extended period of time is pretty rare.