If you have followed my site for any length of time then you know this is one of my favorite sayings, and it is extremely appropriate considering the weather we will soon be seeing.

First off, a short recap of the wild weather we saw over the weekend. The heavy rain and localized flooding showed up as expected. Salem received over 3 inches of rain between Saturday evening and Minday night!! That much rain in such a short time is bound to create flooding, and sure enough that’s exactly what happened on a number of our smaller and medium sized creeks and rivers. No fancy images to go with this post, but when I do my December recap I’ll definitely revisit this particular storm.

As far as the snow forecast went Saturday night, I have to say I’m happy with how it turned out. We had a very marginal setup and everything came together just right in the Portland metro area to drop a slushy 1 to 2 inches of snow even near the center of town. Extremely impressive considering the temps just 6 hours prior were in the mid 50s! Salem dropped down to 37, but never managed to go any lower. I knew it was possible we could miss out on the snow knowing that it was extremely marginal to begin with, and sure enough we got nothing.

Now, looking ahead I see a much much colder (possibly arctic) airmass moving in this weekend and even more so next week.

A mix of rain and snow showers the 24th and 25th. Plan on no widespread snow on the valley floor through the daylight hours on Christmas, but both the Coast Range and the Cascades will have snowy roads. Please keep in mind that when we are in a showery pattern like the one we will see on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, anyone could see a brief coating of snow with the heavier showers.

Sunday and Monday we continue to turn colder and colder with moisture still around. At this time it appears we have a decent chance at seeing accumulating snow here in Salem both these days. Subject to lots of changes. I’ll definitely have more updates in the coming days, but those days are looking like they could be quite wintry.

Next Tuesday and beyond it is looking to stay very cold with more opportunities for more snow likely. No sign whatsoever of any mild winter weather.

Stay safe out there!