7pm Monday… Does it seem that this spring “isn’t so bad” so far? By that I mean we’re getting a nice mix of some wet days but plenty of dry days and sunshine too. Looking at the numbers, that IS the case this year. And it appears the very dry weather is here to stay for another week or two. Last year the first 3 weeks of April were unusually cold and wet…so apparently this is makeup for that? These stats are from April 1st-23rd LAST YEAR We’ve seen less than 1″ rain in Portland so far this month; ignore McMinnville, that sensor has been offline for awhile. Plenty of dry days this month too ..read more

7pm Wednesday… I’m back from a road/flying trip to Dallas for the solar eclipse. It was a great week traveling through the Intermountain West and southern Rockies with my son. Three days of mountain biking in Utah, hot springs in southern Colorado, and great New Mexican food in Santa Fe. Who knew that spicy red and green stuff could be SO good? We also toured Los Alamos since I’m a big history fan. You already know how eclipse day worked out if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook; my son and I were lucky! The flight from Santa Fe to Dallas on eclipse morning was right on time, then we headed ..read more

9pm Friday… I’ll be on vacation for the next 10 days heading to the solar eclipse in Texas (pray for clear sky!), so I figure I should write a quick check-in post before I leave. We typically see weather “slow down” a bit in the springtime west of the Cascades. We tend to see several, or many, days of wet weather followed by a few days of warm sunshine. That has sure been the case this month! Check out the wide variation in high temperatures this month. Blue is below normal, red above, and gray near average. It’s been a bit warmer than average this month, just as we saw in February. I just ch ..read more

7pm Wednesday… It was glorious while it lasted! 6 days of sunshine and warm afternoon temperatures in March. But all good things come to an end. Sure enough we’ve got a cloudy and much cooler day on tap tomorrow. Then it’s on to lots of showers as Oregon’s spring break arrives this weekend. Normal weather is back for the foreseeable future. THE NUMBERS This event will go down as one of the top 2-3 warm/sunny periods in March history west of the Cascades. Similar events occurred in 1941, 1947, 1978, and 2005. It may be many years before we see this again in March; it had been 19 years since th ..read more

9:30pm Thursday… We “overachieved” in Portland today, with temperatures ending up warmer than modeling/forecasts had shown. PDX hit 66 degrees, the warmest since that Pineapple Express-induced 67 degree high back in early December. This is the just the beginning of a well-advertised warm and dry spell. We’ve been talking about this for the last 8-10 days! HIGHLIGHTS We are guaranteed warm/dry weather through Monday with sunny skies each day in the inland valleys of Oregon and SW Washington. High temperatures jump a few degrees tomorrow, then a few more degrees Saturday through Monday. A ..read more

8pm Friday… It felt like spring today with temperatures reaching 60 west of the Cascades. If you liked this, then keep in mind it’s just a preview of what’s ahead starting next Thursday. We have increasing confidence that an extended spell of sunshine plus much warmer than normal weather is on tap between 6 and 10 days from now. How warm? Possibly something similar to what happened 19 years ago on this date. It was an early El Niño spring (like this year) and a strong upper-level ridge camped out overhead. The result was some stunningly warm and dry weather. Obviously it wasn’t a real hea ..read more

7pm Wednesday… Every year, at some point between late February and early March, it becomes obvious to weather forecasters that we’ve crossed the threshold from WINTER to EARLY SPRING in our mild climate west of the Cascades. That has now happened. Looking ahead at our maps/models over the next two weeks it’s clear you can take these actions. I took my snow tires off three weeks ago when there was no sign of cold arctic air ahead…good move this year. Most late winters/early springs in El Niño years are mild and that’s going to be the case this year. So what are we done with for this year ..read more

8pm Monday… We’ve just experienced the 2nd snowiest period of winter in the Pacific Northwest, both in the mountains and for some in the lowlands/foothills. A few thoughts: 1) Officially Portland recorded a trace of snow with this event (snow showers Saturday morning). This means that most likely the final winter snow total will remain at 1.6″. That was a combo of snow + ice pellets that fell on Saturday January 13th. 2) Some lowland/coastal spots picked up snow at times Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday mornings. All very light amounts; I don’t believe I have seen a rep ..read more

8pm Wednesday… March is almost here! We’ve got a Leap Day tomorrow, then the first weekend of March 2024 ahead. Now some years in late winter or very early spring we get mornings with sloppy/wet snowfall in the lowlands of NW Oregon or SW Washington. Last year it occurred several days in the first week of the month. Notice the highs/lows and traces of snowfall at PDX last March. Highs only reached the mid-upper 40s, but little/no overnight freezing The last day of February and first few days of March THIS year look the same. First, just the TL;DR version for those of you not that interested i ..read more

7pm Tuesday… Way back in October when we talked about the strong El Niño affecting our winter weather, the main message was “mild”. Possibly drier than normal too. The first part has panned out, but we’ve been wetter than normal so far. I also had a feeling that brief cold blast in mid-January would be a one-hit wonder and sure enough that appears to be the case. It has barely felt like winter the last 2 weeks or so and I don’t see any low elevation snow or arctic air through the 15th-20th of this month. Yes, it CAN snow after Valentine’s Day in the lowest elevations, we all know that. But it ..read more