Cliff Mass Uses the B Word

Never never never describe the weather as boring.

  I have to take issue with Cliff Mass's recent blog post entitled "Boring with a Hint of La Nina."
  Mass, a many of you know, is a professor of meteorology in University of Washington's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, author of The Weather of the Pacific Northwest, regular guest on KPLU public radio,  and enthusiastic blogger on local weather phenomenon.
   Mass's blog included a snapshot of this week's weather from the National Weather Service--each day represented by a little postage stamp illustrations of clouds, sun, and rain in varying proportions. Mass summed it up this way: "Some clouds, some sun, a few light showers, temps reaching the 50s and dropping into the mid to lower 40s.  Enough to drive a meteorologist mad."
   Boring? Boring?! Since when was the weather in the Pacific Northwest "boring?"
   Will only the Perfect Sturm und Drang excite our local meteorologists?
   I think we have a jaded meteorologist on our hands, folks. Just look at what beautiful weather I have seen in the past week:  

Impressionistic sunrise and fog along the Deschutes River.

An hour later, these fleeting cirrocumulus lacunosus appeared.

Several layers of clouds make a dramatic, aka "partly cloudy," skyscape.

A gorgeous mix of stratocumulus and altocumulus clouds. Probably not too exciting on a radar screen, though.

Well, okay, I have to admit these clouds are a teensy bit not-too exciting. But boring? No. It's cirrostratus just ahead of the rain. The Perfect Norm.

How Can You Look Away?

A lag in blogging is a sure sign of fair weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Toward the end of last week, when the nimbus clouds were in retreat, it was all I could do to work inside. I brought my books and laptop out onto the back deck, but they were no competition for what was going on upstairs: