While pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words, blogs aren’t–so I’ll give a short synopsis of this satellite image from NASA’s Modis Web site:
Pacific Northwest satellite image for 7/14/09; image courtesy of NASA
The reason the satellite image was selected as a the image of the day for July 14 for the MODIS site was the appearance of bright green plankton on the coast of Vancouver Island; however, there are some meteorologically interesting aspects of the photograph as well.
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The sky–the generally clear sky across most of Washington and Oregon is an indication of a lack of marine influence–low clouds often hug the coast and spread into western Washington and western Oregon at this time of year. The lack of marine influence is an indication of a warm weather pattern, which has not been unusual this summer.
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Temperatures in Seattle (Washington) have averaged well above avearge since the start of June (June temperatures), and high temperatures will be in the 80s each of the next three days. The average high is 75.
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Temperatures in Portland (Oregon) have also been well above average since the start of June, incluidng a 96-degree day this month. Temperatures might hit 90 degrees a couple of times in the next three days. The average high is 79.
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The bright white areas over the mountains are not clouds but, rather, snow cover. That’s right–there’s still snow in them there hills. It’s a good thing there is, too, since rain is a rarity in the Pacific Northwest in July. Seattle averages a paltry 0.48 inches of rain in July; Portland averages just 0.34 inches. Snow melt is critical to summer water.
That’s less than 300 words–take that, Napolean Bonaparte.
–Paul Yeager
