2008/09 Winter 2nd All Time Snowiest for McMinnville!

As some of this may be a bit surprising, I had recently did my research thanks to NOAA's climate data (which has data for McMinnville all the way back in the 1800's!!!) and found out that our winter 2 years ago, was 2nd all time snowiest for the area since 1950!! Here's the numbers:

McMinnville’s Top 10 Snowiest Winters:
1. 48.5” 1950
2. 27.8” 2008
3. 24.2” 1943
4. 24.0” 1920
5. 23.4” 1937
6. 23.3” 1971
7. 21.7” 1949
8. 20.7” 1917
9. 19.5” 1960
10. 17.1” 1965

I also find that March of 1951 receieved 23.3" of Snow, the most ever for any March of course, but wow, I couldn't have imagined getting a storm like the one we saw in December of 08, in March! I've also found our annual percentage on any given winter to see snow/snowfall, its 75% dead on. Based on our winters i've experienced with all my time living here (22 years) i'd say 75% is a very accurate number in those terms. So much interesting data to go through, i'll post more when I find more!
--Grant
Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=snow

McMinnville Coast Range Tower

Today, I will be explaining some of my intentions on developing a weather tower on the existing High Heaven Tower that sits 6 miles west of McMinnville at 1,742 ft in elevation. The purpose of such a tower would to help with wind and snow events. There would be temp/wind sensors placed at a 500 FT level, 1,000 ft level and top of the tower at 1,742 ft, this will allow us to find the snow level and figure out whether or not the upper air column on this side of the valley is cold enough to support snowfall. This would prevent unexpected events such as the December, 29th, 2009 Surprise Snow Storm, which could have easily been avoidable if we had monitoring stations set at certain elevations on this side of the valley. The only monitoring buffer we have for the valley is the KPTV temp towers, which is not sufficient enough for the whole Willamette valley.

Of course, this is all still in the developing phase, I still have a lot of discussions with Yamhill County (who owns the area) and looking for the National Weather Service to sponsor this and donate the needed equipment. I'm a firm believer that if we set this tower up, we are moving a step closer to better handling our winter storms and set ourselves up for more accurate forecasts in the future. This is just ONE step closer to that. More info to come...

(UPDATED!) The NWS does not Represent Yamhill County

Update 9:00 AM Sunday: I got word from a very respected Met at the National Weather Service (Tyree Wilde) that they do use my observation data, and that the storm reports are put together by other people within the orginzation who can do a better job with developing the reports. This answers some questions, and I appreciate actually getting a response in regards to these issues. Thank you Tryee for putting up with me on occasion! --Grant

I think it's safe to say that the National Weather Service of Portland does not care about Yamhill County, more specifically, McMinnville. In their most recent warnings, they actually went as far to start leaving McMinnville and any represntation of Yamhill County completely out of their warning forecast's now. Also, they constantly and consitantly ignore my data, and other Yamhill County spotter data with regards to cities closer to the Portland Metro area...example: Say that we are all in the same Snow event, as December 29th, 2009's case, Forest Grove, closer to Portland and next door to Hillsbororo received 5.5" of snow and was represented the most snow in the metro. That was FALSE, they completely missed reports coming out of Yamhill County, places around the area got as close as 6" of snow...more than Forest Grove. Yamhill county in general received more snowfall than Forest Grove and yet, the whole county was ignored. Simply put, NWS does not care about Yamhill County! They constantly never give me any respect for any of my work and dedication to weather in NW Oregon. They think that I have to go to a NWS sponsored event to be considered legit as a spotter, well I got news for them. I'm a lot smarter than most of all their spotters, I'm more dedicated, and I have over 13 years in experience in observing and submitting data, the right way. Most of my education comes from my very own research and dedication in learning everything I can possible to better help weather forecast and research. Also, i've took a lot of education through the AMS (American Meteorological Society) and garnered experienced with other high profiled mets (Mark Nelsen, Jim Little, George Taylor). I will continue to do what I do, and will always dedicated my time for Yamhill County and represent Yamhill County the way it needs to be represented. You have my back on that! --Grant I continue to learn everyday, and that will never stop.

Heat Wave Starts Tomorrow!

Well, we may not know exactly how hot it will be getting but we do know for sure that we will be above 90+ for at least 5-6 days strait. Starting Tuesday, and ending Sunday? To those who have missed the bulletin, summer was not canceled this year to ones surprise. The unusually wet May and June will seem like a fair trade after this week. The one thing that will make this particular Heat Wave feel a lot more hotter than it really is, is the fact that that we will be going from the upper 60's to the mid 90's without any gradual warm up. Although Tuesday is only forecasted into the 80's you will really feel the heat on Wednesday. Stay hydrated and stay tuned to any important weather developments as they come!

Yamhill County Weather Media Reccomendation

For those folks who are confused on who to turn on to for local media during weather events for Yamhill County, I have a simple recommendation for you. KPTV Fox-12 Oregon is as local as you are going to get for weather updates and other local weather issues. I personally only use the National Weather Service and KPTV for posting observations for McMinnville area, so those are the two more "official"/ accurate in weather terms for this area. I have a keen "professional" relationship with Mark Nelsen (Head Meteorologist for KPTV) as well as Tyree Wildree of the National Weather Service here in Portland. This allows me to comfortably say that McMinnville Weather.com and I (Grant LeBlanc) are the main spotters for the area. So thats 3 options for information; Directly from me on McMinnville Weather.com, TV Media (Fox 12 Oregon), and the Government through The National Weather Service of Portland. If you go to any of these sites/ media, you should be in good hands and know what to expect for the most part, again, it's as local as your gonna get here in Yamhill County. Hope this helps! --Grant LeBlanc