44th annual Federal Way Masonic School Award winners

Pictured are the Masonic Outstanding Juniors for 2012. (Bottom row left to right) Mary Kim (TJHS),  Iris Chang (Todd Beamer HS), Chantelle LaMarr (Fife HS), Stephanie Stanek (Decatur HS), Bianea Arizpe (FWHS). (Top row Left to right) Edward Choi (TJHS), Paul Kalebu (Todd Beamer HS), Nathanael Asbury (Fife HS), Daniel Hsu (Decatur HS), Caleb Dawson (FWHS). - Photo by Steven Johnstone
Photo by Steven Johnstone
Pictured are the Masonic Outstanding Juniors for 2012. (Bottom row left to right) Mary Kim (TJHS), Iris Chang (Todd Beamer HS), Chantelle LaMarr (Fife HS), Stephanie Stanek (Decatur HS), Bianea Arizpe (FWHS). (Top row Left to right) Edward Choi (TJHS), Paul Kalebu (Todd Beamer HS), Nathanael Asbury (Fife HS), Daniel Hsu (Decatur HS), Caleb Dawson (FWHS).
Fifty outstanding high school juniors from Federal Way and Fife, Class of 2013, have been recognized with certificates presented at a ceremony in Federal Way.

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updated 2:04 PM May 9, 2012 0

U.S. Climate Versus Weather Computers: Climate Wins

Why is the U.S. government provide hugely more computer resources for climate prediction than weather prediction?  And why is far more emphasis given to climate prediction research than weather prediction research and development?In some past blogs I talked about the unfortunate lack of computer resources available to the National Weather Service (NWS), resulting in the...

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Blogs 11:16 PM May 15, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Cold Records with Warm Temperatures

On Saturday it became toasty here in Northwest, with many locations gets into the 70s and lower 80s.  Yet a number of locations exprienced daily minimum temperature records in the morning--here is the proof from the National Climatic Data Center records website.  The blue dot indicate a tie for the record and stations with an...

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Blogs 8:28 AM May 13, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Summer in May

It is a climatological oddity of Northwest meteorology that we often get a period of very warm, dry weather sometime in the second or third week of May, followed by a retreat into the dismal June Gloom.  Well folks, we are about to have the heat wave--one that will bring near 80F temps to Seattle,...

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Blogs 10:44 PM May 10, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

The Windiest Place along the West Coast

As the U.S. West Coast enters the warm season, one area is getting very windy, particularly during  the afternoon and evenings.   Day after day this region will be hit by 20-30 mph winds, often with higher gusts.   A region, where the afternoon is often too windy to be on the beach, with wind-driven sandy stinging...

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Blogs 3:57 PM May 9, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Federal Way embraces Family Green Fest, Recycle Palooza

What do 10,000 pounds of confidential documents, a $1,000 grand prize, 550 people and 18 vendors all have in common? The second annual Family Green Fest and Recycle Palooza Event, which took place April 28 at the Federal Way Community Center.

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12:16 PM May 9, 2012 0

Soil Temperatures and Gardening

The question that many amateur gardeners like myself often ask is:Why are my seeds not germinating and rotting in the soil?When will the soil be warm enough to sow my seeds or transplant my plants? Well, I don't pretend to be an expert in this, but I suspect it has something to do so with...

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Blogs 11:30 PM May 6, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Warmth Returns

You don't need to be a meteorologist to know that we have been substantially cooler than normal the past five days--on both sides of the Cascades.  Here is a sample from Seattle and Pasco.  Roughly 5-10F below normal on the max temps. The reason?  A persistent trough over the Northwest, as shown by this upper level...

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Blogs 9:55 AM May 5, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Pioneer Weather Complaints

Some things never change.One can not be considered a Northwesterner if you don't grouse about our endless cool, showery weather during Spring.  And it turns out that our pioneer ancestors---more than 150 years ago--were doing the same thing.Let's go back to 1855 and the town of Steilacoom on Puget Sound's waters.  In a hard-hitting commentary...

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Blogs 9:16 PM May 2, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Tornadoes and Tulips: The Mt. Vernon Connection

Or perhaps funnels and flowers.   What is it with Mt. Vernon and funnel clouds during the annual spring Tulip festival?   Remember last year?  On April 29th several folks spotted and photographed a funnel cloud rotating over the famous blossoms (see picture below which I found in a story in the Skagit County Herald). Nice mini wall...

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Blogs 9:10 PM April 30, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

Iconic Confusion

Blogs 11:23 PM April 28, 2012 Cliff Mass Weather Blog, a Community Blog

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  • Cliff Mass Weather Blog
    Cliff Mass is a UW professor of Atmospheric Sciences. He blogs about the local in the Pacific Northwest.