Community Foundation distributes $155K in scholarships

Awards recently announced by the Community Foundation include scholarships for former and for recent graduates of San Juan Island high schools.

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6:05 PM June 14, 2013

Summer Thunderstorms

An area of summer thunderstorms and cumulus convection is moving through tonight, and for many of you this is the first rain in weeks.Let's look at recent radar imagery every two hours.5 PM:  lots of showers on the coast and offshore.7 PM:  the coastal showers moved inland and substantial thunderstorms hit eastern WA.9 PM:  Puget...

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Blogs 10:58 PM June 17, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Halos and contrails: Is there a connection?

The short answer is YES!Today I received pictures from several of you regarding some wondrous halos in the sky.  Others noted an  impressive collection of contrails...and there is no accident that both apparitions appeared at the same time:  the ultimate cause is the same.Here is a very nice picture from Brendan Fields showing both appearing...

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Blogs 10:23 PM June 15, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Can You Get More than 100% Solar Energy? The Answer is Yes!

More and more folks are putting up rooftop solar panels here in the Northwest.  And some of them are getting results that seem bizarre.Take the case of Ted Weiler of Kenmore, WA, who sent me a note that other day wondering why he sometimes gets higher peak solar output from his panels during partly cloudy...

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Blogs 3:00 AM June 14, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Price graduates with business degree at Cal Lutheran

San Juan Island's Cody Price earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and was recently inducted into the California Lutheran University Scholar-Athlete Society, graduating with a cumulative GPA of more than 3.4 throughout his college career.

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updated 5:54 PM June 12, 2013

Rainier’s Shadow

Mount Rainier is perhaps the most famous landmark in our state...and it can cast the most amazing shadows.  This morning with a relatively uniform cloud deck that topped out around 6500 ft, the mountain's shadow was quite evident. For example, the 5:30 AM visible satellite image clearly showed Rainier's shadow and that of Mt. Adam.And...

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Blogs 1:00 AM June 12, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Class of 2013 shares spotlight at 101st FHHS graduation

In total, the Friday Harbor High School Class of 2013 received from various community and civic organizations roughly 120 scholarships, amounting to $328,000 in support for the graduates continuing education (the total includes the value of renewable scholarships as well). It did not go by unrecognized.

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updated 5:29 PM June 11, 2013

Griffin Bay grads find success on path ‘less-traveled

Griffin Bay High School's Class of 2013, Martin Guerrero and Jessica Walch earned accolades for character, tenacity and spunk, along with a high school degree.

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updated 7:02 PM June 10, 2013

Using Unmanned Aircraft for Severe Thunderstorm Prediction and Warning

After the tornado outbreaks in Moore City and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, there was a flood of controversy about the role of storm chasers.   With the tragic loss of three experienced storm chaser/scientists, the injury of the several Weather Channel chasers (see picture below of their car), and the veritable traffic jam of chasers in the...

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Blogs 4:31 PM June 10, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Coal Train Update

The passage of coal trains through Puget Sound is an extraordinarily bad idea, something I have blogged about in the past.   In this blog, I will provide an update on the issue and, using new information, review why local residents should oppose this problematic idea.The coal train issue has gotten a lot of attention lately,...

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Blogs 11:05 AM June 8, 2013 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

SJI fire department MERT squad poised for response

Stationed at various neighborhood fire stations across the island, members of the MERT squad will help keep track of those who live in their area, document injuries and property damage so that when emergency services personnel arrive they are able to provide an accurate assessment of conditions in their respective neighborhoods.

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7:52 PM June 7, 2013

Community Blogroll

  • Cliff Mass Weather Blog
    Cliff Mass is a UW professor of Atmospheric Sciences. He blogs about the local in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Cynthia Brast Entomology
    Cynthia Brast is a graduate student studying Entomology via a distance eduction program through the University of Florida. Beautiful macro photography graces her posts about how to deal with local pests like black aphids, or the plight of imperiled species like the Island Marble Butterfly.