Weathercatch: ‘Unsettled’ weather – blah but not bad

In January 1935, a New York Times story about aviator Amelia Earhart carried the headline “Unsettled weather on the Coast.” According to the article, Earhart was completing a solo flight from Hawaii when her small plane hit turbulence along the California coast, delaying the much-anticipated landing by an hour or two.

Flash-forward to 2016, Google “unsettled weather” and hundreds of news links will appear, originating from places as varied as the Pacific Northwest, Texas, Rhode Island and Britain.

Let’s say a tornado rips through your community and a few hours later, a meteorologist is quoted as saying the weather is expected to be “unsettled” during the next day or two.

Should you be scared or relieved?

Though “unsettled” seems an ambiguous term, it has long been used to describe certain weather conditions. In the meteorological world, its meaning is fairly specific and not as ominous as you might think.

Basically, it describes a condition in the atmosphere that’s likely to lead to precipitation. While not calm and sunny weather, it’s not super stormy either. Think: clouds, light rain or snowfall, and blustery at times.

In other words, unsettled conditions occur any time of year and can be annoying but usually not menacing. Pilots flying through them expect to hit bumps along the way. On the ground, people might encounter raindrops and curbside puddles or snowflakes and a nippy wind.

A recent example of an unsettled weather day in Spokane was Oct. 9, when a rainfall of 0.13 inches was accompanied by a mean wind of 5.9 mph, with gusts reaching 16 mph.

Conditions like those occur when a jet stream or low pressure system fixes itself nearby.

The next time you hear a forecast calling for unsettled weather in the region, know to expect clouds, rain or snow, but not high winds and a monster storm.

And get ready to say goodbye to the sunshine.

Nic Loyd is a meteorologist with Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet. Linda Weiford is a WSU news writer and weather geek. Contact: linda.weiford@wsu.edu or nicholas.loyd@wsu.edu.