Introducing: 'The Weather Nerd'

 

The Weather Nerd will be a weekly bit that I'll be putting together analyzing our current weather, forecasts, models, and long-range outlooks-- and hopefully scribbling it all together in way that your average winter enthusiast (ski bum?) will be able to not just comprehend, but enjoy.

I've followed our wild & crazy brand of Pacific Northwest weather closer than most, particularly that regarding snowfall in the central Cascade Mountains, for the better part of a decade. I have a bit of formal education in meteorology and climatology dating back to my days as an undergrad, but en-large, I've learned to follow our trends and patterns independently.

Mostly, I just find it interesting-- this is fun for me. I also find many of our PNW weather talking-heads to be noncommittal and often inaccurate, with a couple of notable exceptions. Cliff Mass (University of Washington) and Jeff Renner (KING 5) both offer insight and forecasting ability that I see as unique in our area. I suspect that several other notable meteorologists in the area are taking their cues from these two 'gents...

To be fair, our weather is often wacky and unpredictable, and some of the smartest computers on the planet are dedicated to accurately predicting the Seattle metro's 7-10 day outlook-- even they can be inconsistent. It can be even trickier to nail down a particular weather event's path and impact on specific Cascade slopes pertinent to ski conditions.

There are plenty of folks that get paid a lot of money to analyze the weather. < --- I'm not one of them, but I've hit the nail on the head more often than not over the years, and for a while now, have had friends and colleagues encourage me to start up a weather-related blog. I used to fancy myself as a bit of a writer, but somehow fell out of the habit. This "Weather Nerd" endeavor is, at least in part, a general effort to start writing again.

Anyway, follow the link to check out the first piece:

Inaugural Post - Weather Nerd: 3/1 - 3/7