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Monday, December 29, 2014

Go Seahawks!!


Sunday, December 28, 2014

NW Weather-Monday NIght: Bitterly Cold Wind Chills

The region will experience a period of bitterly cold wind chill temperatures Monday Night. Frigid overnight lows coupled with persistent winds will lead to downright raw conditions. The entire region will see values fall to or below zero. Locations in the Idaho Panhandle will fall to near -20F. Be prepared for the conditions if you will be outdoors Monday Night

Monday: Cold Winds Blow

An arctic cold front will bring very cold temperatures and gusty winds back into the Inland Northwest on Monday. The cold air will squeeze through the valleys of north Idaho and northern Washington, with localized wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph expected at times. The strongest winds are expected down the Okanogan Valley and Purcell Trench. This will create wind chills near zero Monday and well below zero Monday Night. Also, some localized blowing and drifting of recent snowfall is possible.

More Snow Overnight

Snow showers are possible once again overnight for much of the region, especially in the Cascades and Blue Mountains. Other locations outside will only see light snowfall with the vast majority receiving under an inch.

Snow Depth Eastern Washington / Northern Idaho



 ...STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL THE PAST 24 HOURS 
 LOCATION              ELEVATION   OBSERVED    TIME OF     SOURCE
                        (FEET)      INCHES   OBSERVATION
 __________________________________________________________________

 ... BENEWAH COUNTY ID ...
 ST. MARIES 5 W           2460       6.5       630 PM      SPOTTER

 ... BONNER COUNTY ID ...
 SANDPOINT                           2.5       230 PM      PUBLIC
 PRIEST RIVER                        6.0       705 PM      PUBLIC


 ... BOUNDARY COUNTY ID ...
 BONNERS FERRY 11 ESE                3.0       715 AM      SPOTTER


 ... KOOTENAI COUNTY ID 
COEUR D`ALENE 4 SW       2900       6.0       530 PM      PUBLIC
 HAYDEN LAKE 1 NNE                   7.0       700 AM      SPOTTER
COEUR D`ALENE 20 ESE     2667      11.5       645 AM      SPOTTER

 ... LATAH COUNTY ID ...
 MOSCOW 5 NNE             2960       4.0       330 PM      SPOTTER

 ... LEWIS COUNTY ID ...
 WINCHESTER                          6.0       900 PM      PUBLIC

 ... SHOSHONE COUNTY ID ...
 KELLOGG 4 S                        12.0       600 AM      PUBLIC
 LOOKOUT PASS                       17.0       600 AM      PUBLIC

... SPOKANE COUNTY WA ...
 SPOKANE 3 NW                        1.2       615 PM      PUBLIC
 SPOKANE 4 NNW                       2.1       700 AM      SPOTTER
 SPOKANE 3 N                         3.0       415 PM      PUBLIC

... WHITMAN COUNTY WA ...
 PULLMAN                             4.0       530 PM      PUBLIC

 COLFAX                              4.0       705 PM      PUBLIC

Feeling sad? It Could be Seasonal Affective Disorder

Published: Dec 26, 2014

LEWISTON, ID - Hope you had a joyous Christmas. As the excitement is winding down from the holidays, moods may be too,

Seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons. If you're like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months. Six-percent of the U.S. population is affected by it. 





"It occurs most often farther away from the equator," said Quality Behavioral Health Director of Development, Sara Kern. "It's when people are feeling sad, irritable, not wanting to be around others, having difficulty with relationships, a lot of people see weight gain and just being lethargic and not wanting to do things."


One Valley resident, who chose to remain anonymous, has been living with seasonal affective disorder for almost 50 years. He first discovered he had the disorder when he was in high school. "I felt like I was sad all the time," said SAD sufferer. "There were a couple times I felt like... Wishing I wasn't alive. Later on, when I was in college, there were times when I felt suicidal, during this time of the month, and I just wasn't very happy."
SAD can strike any time of the year, but it happens most often in the colder months, when the sun isn't always out.

"When it gets dark out I just have this low grade depression," said SAD sufferer. "This low grade feeling of sadness and I'm not quite able to be as happy, or I just don't feel as much during the winter months."

Anyone can get Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it's most common in: women, people who live far from the equator, where winter daylight hours are very short. People between the ages of 15 and 55, and people who have a close relative with SAD. 

"If people are seeing signs of hopelessness and suicide, reaching out and calling their doctor or getting enrolled in some type of psycho therapy, or behavioral counseling is definitely important," said Sara Kern. "You can also increase your exercise, try to get under lights, and get outside on the sunny days we do have. That's all very important."

"You have to learn that it's very temporary, don't get too discouraged and you have to let yourself feel depressed," said SAD sufferer. "Sometimes it's worse when you try to deny that you're depressed. So, the best things is to accept it; accept that it's part of who you are and that's what happens to you during the wintertime. Don't be afraid to see a councilor or a therapist."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 90% of people who die by suicide have clinical depression or another diagnosable mental disorder. So, don't brush off that yearly feeling as simply a case of the "winter blues" or a seasonal funk that you have to tough out on your own. It's important to take steps to keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year. And, if you think someone you know has SAD, talk to them, it could save their life.

There are several places to turn to, in the valley, if you think you're experiencing seasonal affective disorder. Contact your local health care provider at any of our area hospitals or you can contact Quality Behavioral Health in Clarkston.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 – available 24/7 
Quality Behavioral Health (509) 758-3341
Tri-State Memorial Hospital (509) 758-5511
Valley Medical Center (208) 746-1383
Pullman Regional Hospital (509) 332-2541



Thursday, December 25, 2014

NorthWest Weather Pictures

scenes of the Northwest
 
Seattle Ferry/Olympics
Space Needle

Columbia River Gorge

Pacific Coast

Mt. St. Helens

Orcas

Seattle Farmers Market

Cascade Starry Night

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Opening day for Brundage had six inches of fresh snow

By  Updated: Dec 23, 2014
Brundage reported a base of 62 inches on Monday.
Opening day for Brundage had six inches of fresh snow
MCCALL, ID - Just in time for the Christmas, Brundage mountain is now 100% open.

Opening day was on Friday. A few runs were still closed, but those that were open had six inches of fresh snow. By Saturday, all five chairlifts were open, with just five runs still closed. Opening weekend turned out to be nothing but powder.

"Our average day usually comes around December 9th give or take a day or two," said April Whitney, Communication Director, Brundage Mountain. "We're about a week and half after that but the important thing for us is that we are open for Christmas break so families can enjoy their holiday tradition and come ski at Brundage Mountain and not have to change their plans at the last minute."

Monday, Brundage reported a base of 62 inches. The annual free "Light Up the Night" event is on Saturday. There will be a torchlight parade, slopeside fireworks show and live music. Be sure to tune into our Christmas Special Thursday evening to learn about another event that will be hosted at Brundage Mountain for the very first time this January.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Mountain Pass Reports- Improving Conditions

Snow ending -  roads still slippery...

Traveling tonight or Sunday over the mountain passes?? It looks like travel conditions will be improving as snow comes to an end this evening. The roadways may still have some snow and ice on them. Remember to take it slow if your encounter hazardous road conditions. 

LUNAR DECEPTION:

Shady Business: Are there jagged mountain ranges on the moon?...or Spiky shadows

Early depictions of the moon took cues for telescopic observations, showing a rugged, 
forbidding landscape. As it turns out, this is an illusion.

This sketch of the Caucasus Mountains perfectly captures the dramatic, pointed shadows cast by peaks in the low sunlight.  Could the snowbank scenario be playing out on the Moon? McCabe



Sunlight grazing the top of a snowbank (right) throws the rounded knobs into stark relief on the street below. Every detail has been stretched and exaggerated by the sun’s low angle to create a shadowy "mountain range".

The very fact that the moon is airless allows every bit of meteoric dust to zap the surface at tens of thousands of miles per hour. Over the 4.5 billion year lifetime of the moon, myriad micrometeorite impacts have acted like cosmic sandpaper, grinding down the once craggy peaks into the smooth hills and mountaintops so vividly seen in photographs returned from the Apollo missions. 

Peaks of the Taurus-Littrow Mountains loom beyond the window of the Apollo 17 lunar module. From a closer perspective, we get a better idea of the relative smoothness of lunar mountains.  NASA 

Pointed shadows stretch across the floor of the 68-mile-wide crater Plato. The best place to see extreme shadows is right along the Moon's terminator, the ever-shifting boundary between lunar day and night. This is where the Sun is near rising (between New and Full phases) or setting (from Full to New). Damian Peach 

A few target areas where isolated peaks in mountain ranges, like the Alps and Caucasus, and along the rim of craters like Plato make for dramatic shadow-casting. Dates shown are approximate times when the terminator cuts through each region.
Virtual Moon Atlas - Patrick Chevalley, Christian Legrande 

Read the full article here

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

0-to-60 mph -is it a turbo-charged V8 or mother nature

It takes some of the better sports cars out there about 5-7 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph.
Mother Nature showed off some of her own powerful accelerations during a storm that spawned an incredible gust front in Maine in June 2011
Michael McCormack has a web camera situated at Sebec Lake. About 1:45 p.m., a strong gust front went through the region, and the winds went from near calm to roaring over 60 mph in seconds.
And his web camera was rolling the entire time.
Here is how he described it:
"This image sequence shows a gust front approaching and raising a lot of water from the lake surface. The 4th frame shows a boat being overtaken at the leading edge of the wind. Last image shows a treetop landed in front of the cam." He estimates based on the speed of the front, the winds were blowing at about 66 mph at the leading edge.

Here are the images he was talking about. They are taken 30 seconds apart.

Nationa Flight Delay Info

Official Air Traffic Control System Command Center 


It is the day before Thanksgiving, the busiest travel day of the year.  Are you or your loved ones traveling by air?  Check delay/wait time status below.

    Tuesday, October 14, 2014

    Seattle Waterspout

    Waterspout Hits Southern Puget Sound:



    : Cliff Mass Weather Blog Monday, October 13, 2014

    First Tornado Warning Here in 17 Years

    On Saturday around noon, several of you were startled to get a tornado warning on your smartphones.

    The cause: a waterspout that developed near Anderson Island in the southern Sound and which remained intact for about a half-hour. Here are some pics I found on the KOMO and KING-5 web sites. An extremely well-formed funnel and you can see from the first that the winds reached the surface, kicking up lots of spray.                            Beautiful pictures:
     
    Waterspouts are the weaker cousins of the strong tornadoes one finds over the Midwest U.S.
    According to the official Storm Prediction Center definition:

    A waterspout is a tornado over water--usually meaning non-supercell tornadoes over water. Waterspouts are common along the southeast U. S. coast and can happen over seas, bays and lakes worldwide. Although waterspouts are always tornadoes by definition; they don't officially count in tornado records unless they hit land. They are smaller and weaker than the most intense Great Plains tornadoes, but still can be quite dangerous. Waterspouts can overturn boats, damage larger ships, do significant damage when hitting land, and kill people.

    This waterspot, and virtually all of our waterspouts/tornadoes around here, are associated with non-supercell thunderstorms. Supercells are the big Kahunas of the thunderstorm world with very high tops (reaching 40-60K ft), intense rain, hail, and most importantly rotation.

    This waterspout came out of a relatively wimpy NW thunderstorm.
    Impressive for around here. But equally strong thunderstorms were hitting in the north Sound with no waterspouts. No sign of any hooked echoes...which indicate supercell storms.
     
     

     

    Friday, October 3, 2014

    Wednesday, September 17, 2014

    Check Out the Latest Pictures From Space!

    Click the link for real time pictures of comets, auroras, craters and more.  spaceweathergallery.com

    M-31
    Taken by joe canz on September 13, 2014 @ tampa fl.



    Auroras 
    Taken by Frank Olsen on September 17, 2014 @ Sortland, Norway



    Theophilus (crater) - Animated Gif
    Taken by Giuseppe Donatiello on September 15, 2014 @ Oria (Brindisi) - Italy


    SPACE WEATHER - Minor Storm Warning

    MINOR STORM WARNING: A slow-moving CME propelled toward Earth by an erupting magnetic filament on the sun is expected to arrive today, Sept. 17th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of minor geomagnetic storms in response to the sluggish impact. High-latitude sky watchers, be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts:textvoice

    Tuesday, September 16, 2014

    Active Space Weather - incoming CME

    CME is an acronym for Coronal Mass Ejection. Think of it as a solar flare - on an enormous scale.



     DUAL CME: Another CME is en route to Earth. It was launched in our direction four days ago by the eruption of a magnetic filament near the center of the solar disk. This movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows the Earth-directed CME almost overwhelmed, visually, by a brighter farside CME headed in the opposite direction.


    The impact won't be as effective as the double-blow Earth experienced on Sept. 12th, when two CMEs hit in less than 24 hours. Nevertheless, NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Sept. 17th when the CME arrives. (Note: Yesterday we wrote that the CME would arrive on Sept. 16th, however, a revised analysis of its speed suggests a later arrival.) High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. 

    Sunday, September 7, 2014

    Sunny Northwest day stuns ISS astronaut

    Published: Sep 6, 2014 

    I would think being an astronaut living on the International Space Station would find a new sight each day in the cosmos to be in sheer wonder. 

    Friday brought a rare sight to NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman -- something he says never happens and he had a front row seat. 

    A galaxy supernova? Not quite; seen it before. 

    Rain on the moon? That would qualify but still no need for meteorologists there. 

    No, while it was weather-related, it had to do with our own Pacific Northwest:



    Photo: Reid Wiseman, NASA


    This never happens – perfectly clear from California to British Columbia. in the middle.


    I can see the Chamber of Commerce posters now: "Seattle summer: It's out of this world!" 

    It's also nearing kicking 1967 out of the record books. Saturday will be Seattle's 41st day at 80 or warmer (with nary a cloud to be found on the satellite image, or seen by the ISS.) The record is 47 days at 80 or warmer. (2nd is 46, 3rd is 45 days.) Long range models suggest the record is not out of reach.

    And with plenty of sunshine along for the ride, Wiseman and the rest of the ISS crew should be able to frequently wave hi to the Northwest, only if this pattern keeps up, soon the Tweets will read something like this: 

    "Again?!?! Perfectly clear from California to British Columbia. #Seattle in the middle."

    Friday, September 5, 2014

    WEEKEND ASTEROID FLYBY:

    Sunday, a house-sized asteroid named "2014 RC" will fly through the Earth-Moon system 

    almost inside the orbit of geosynchronous satellites. At closest approach, Sept. 7th at 18:18 UTC, the 20-meter-wide space rock will pass just 40,000 km over New Zealand. This diagram from NASA shows the geometry of the encounter:
                                                                                             There is no danger of a collision with Earth.

    Asteroid 2014 RC was discovered on the night of August 31 by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, and independently detected the next night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, located on the summit of Haleakalā on Maui, Hawaii.  Follow-up observations quickly confirmed the orbit of 2014 RC: it comes from just beyond the orbit of Mars.
    The close appproach of this space rock offers researchers an opportunity for point-blank studies of a near-Earth asteroid. Even amateur astronomers will be able to track it. Around the time of closest approach, it will brighten to magnitude +11.5 as it zips through the constellation Pisces. This means it will be invisible to the naked eye but a relatively easy target for backyard telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. 

    According to NASA, "[the orbit of 2014 RC] will bring it back to our planet's neighborhood in the future.  The asteroid's future motion will be closely monitored, but no future threatening Earth encounters have been identified."

    Tuesday, September 2, 2014

    The Best Way for Your Child to Wear their Backpack

    Published: Sep 2, 2014 


    MOSCOW, ID - It's the end of the first week of school for most students in our region and that means backpacks are quickly filling up with books, homework and supplies.

    That can all get pretty heavy, so it's important your child is wearing their backpack the right way. Jenee' Ryan met with Gritman Therapy Solutions in Moscow to find out the best way to wear a backpack.

    "Do you have a lot of weight in your backpack?" said Physical Therapist, Shirley Rencken.

    "Yea," said Maddyson Garnett.

    Most kids would answer the same way. Backpack fit and size is crucially important during grade school and high school years. 

    "At that age their bodies and their muscles, their bones and joints are all maturing and forming and we want to minimize the impact of injuries at a young age," said Rencken.

    Some common consequences include bad posture and chronic back pain. Rencken pointed out some common backpack mistakes. 

    "It's way too big for her," said Rencken. "It hits way down here below her bottom and it should fit more up into the small of her back."

    This is how it should look.

    "It fits right up to the top of her shoulder blade and it hits in the small of her back," said Rencken. 

    It's also very important to keep the weight of the bag even on the back. 

    "It's going to be loading her back in an awkward position because she's got weight hanging on one side," said Rencken. "So the best thing to do with your water bottles is to fill them when you get to school or even put them inside your backpack so the weight is centered."

    But don't let that backpack get too heavy. 

    "This is about nine pounds of books, which is the maximum weight for madison," said Rencken.

    Backpacks should never weigh more than 15-percent of the child's body weight, so utilize lockers throughout the day and maybe have them carry some stuff. Also, make sure the backpack is snug and your child uses both straps, padded preferably, and if they have a belly strap, use that too.

    Thursday, August 28, 2014

    Travel is Expensive in Idaho

    By Sophia Miraglio  Aug 27, 2014

     High Gas Prices

    LEWISTON, ID - If you’re planning on hitting the road for Labor Day weekend, you're certainly not alone.

    According to AAA, nearly 35-million people are expected to hit both the road and airways for the extended weekend, which would be the highest number since the recession-driven decline. Despite above average gasoline prices in the Gem State, 147,000 Idahoans or 11% will be travelling on the extended weekend as well.

    "IDAHO HAS THE 6th HIGHEST PRICES IN THE COUNTRY, but despite that and despite our gasoline prices being 34-cents above the national average, we don't think that will have any sizeable impact on the number of people expected to travel," said AAA Spokesman Dave Carlson.

    The current national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.44. The busiest two days of travel are Friday and Monday.

    Friday, August 22, 2014

    Picking a Landing Site ON A COMET!

    COMET LANDING SITE SELECTION: Europe's Rosetta probe has been at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two weeks, taking close-up pictures and making measurements of the comet's strange landscape. According to ESA, researchers now have the data they need to start picking a landing site. This weekend, mission planners will meet to consider 10 candidate locations, with the goal of narrowing the list to 5 by Monday. Stay tuned for results!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Artist impression of Philae on the surface of 67P/C-G.                                                                                                                                    Credit: ESA/ATG medialab          

    • on the comet landscape - animated view of candidate sites

     : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGu7KbXzOs


    • actual pictures of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken by Rosetta's navigation camera (NAVCAM).  August 21st photo:



    • More images of Rosetta's comet can be found in the '67P - by Rosetta' collection.  Watch the comet getting closer...



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