Phew! It’s been a busy week both in my personal life being Christmas time and all, and of course in the weather department too! First things first. There shouldn’t be any accumulating snow here in Salem that will effect travel or your life in any way. Portland and areas north of us could see some snow briefly before changing to rain, but this particular storm is mostly going to effect areas north of us. The Gorge and the Cascade passes will also be extremely snowy Thursday, so use caution if you’re heading those directions.

Okay, looking back over the past few days I’m happy with how the forecast panned out overall. As time went on it became clear that we weren’t going to be quite as cold as originally thought, but we still managed 4 days in a row with highs in the 30s with 1 or 2 more sub 40 degree days still to go this weekend before things “warm up.” Fairly impressive for our somewhat mild climate.

In regards to the snow I was very happy to see everyone in the mid Willamette Valley saw at least 3 or 4 inches of snow, and many of you saw even more than that. In fact I’ve heard reports from faithful viewers that a few (lucky) spots got close to 8 inches of snow. This map shows total snowfall in inches over the past 7 days.

You can see the swath of purple to the south and west of Salem indicating totals over 6 inches. Tons of snow up in the Coast and Cascade Ranges too! Remember when I posted this snowpack map from December 6th?

Very little snow to begin the month, but now look at where we are at as of the 29th….

Looking much better as most of the state now has an above normal snowpack!

Extended outlook

A very cold rain on Thursday with mountain snow.

Thursday night and Friday morning could be quite icy again with lows dropping below freezing as another weak push of cold air moves back into our area. Please lookout for black ice when traveling Friday morning.

Friday through Sunday look mostly dry (maybe a few showers), but basically dry and cool. Highs in the upper 30s and lows in the 20s. Lots of sun and some really good weather for get togethers and new year plans.

I won’t even talk about next week yet, but look out for more updates as next week is looking stormy.

Take care!