Flooding 2006
A home flooded by the Skagit River is shown from the air Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006 near Mount Vernon, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)

New Puget Sound winter forecast ripe for Pineapple Express

BY Chris Sullivan  on October 23, 2012 @ 10:43 am (Updated: 12:01 pm - 10/23/12 )

Forget El Nino and say 'hello' to the Pineapple Express.

The long-range weather forecast has changed. Western Washington is no longer looking at a warmer and drier winter as predicted in September. Forecasters say we'll have a 'neutral' winter, which means warmer and wetter weather.

Ted Buehner, with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said conditions are right for the jet stream to host a Pineapple Express, which brings warm and wet weather into the Pacific Northwest from Hawaii.

"It behaves kind of like a fire hose," Buehner explained. "It is coming live and direct from the Hawaiian Islands, so it can produce a lot of rainfall in a relatively short period of time, several days, and produce a lot of flooding in a short amount of time."

The November 2006 Pineapple Express sent many Western Washington rivers to record flood levels.

If you're trying to figure out what a 'neutral' winter looks like, the last time we had one, in 2008-2009, we received a lot of snow in December. Check out Dave's Commentary from Dec. 18, 2009

Buehner said El Nino could make a delayed appearance around the holidays and into next year, but it would be considered a weak El Nino year. The last El Nino winter was in 2009-2010.

La Nina was present last winter (2011-2012), which if you don't remember, included a lot of snow and an ice storm in January. Check the charts.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
More Local News
Top Stories

  • Heartstopping
    Daredevils post breathtaking pictures atop Seattle landmarks

  • Snowy Passes
    Escape cold Seattle; go skiing at Crystal Mountain

  • Dirty Wars
    Director Jeremy Scahill says Obama hasn't been fighting a clean war
MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (4)


  • Add A Comment

  • Forrest wrote...
    Weather forecasters have it made.
    October 23, 2012 11:24 am
    Anybody who can be wrong 100% of the time and still pick up a paycheck has it made. Who do they think they are, Congress?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • 2112 wrote...
    Forrest
    October 23, 2012 12:29 pm
    Funny!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Touché Forrest!
    October 23, 2012 3:13 pm
    I drove over Blewett Pass to Wenatchee this morning and there was 4 inches of snow already.... Lets revisit the warm & wet winter in say, oh, February? Next, the Global Warming idiots will be making their dire predictions....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • davidtheheartless wrote...
    TWC
    October 23, 2012 8:09 pm
    The Weather Channel said the opposite last week. A large ridge known as(Pacific Decadal Oscillation) "This signal typically helps drive cooler weather in the western U.S. and warmer temperatures in the eastern U.S. during late fall and early winter," said Chief Meteorologist Dr. Todd Crawford of Weather Services International (WSI), a part of The Weather Channel Companies." TWC said the northwest was going to have a normal precip and way below normal temps. http://www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/late-fall-early-winter-outlook-20120924 Guess we'll see whos right...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }