Happy new year to you all! We have endured a pretty gray and dreary winter so far. Plenty of rainy days, and when it hasn’t been raining, it feels like fog has ruled the day. Very few clear crisp winter days for sure. It’s also been a pretty boring month weatherwise. No big storms, no snow, cold, ice, wind, floods – nothing really, but this is about to change. I’m watching multiple storms which are set to impact us beginning on Saturday and lasting through next week. I’m also watching the potential for much colder weather. Nothing for sure yet, but we will be in the correct type of weather pattern for valley snow if things line up just right. A far cry from the damp and foggy weather we have seen the past 5 weeks.

Highlights

1.)  Thursday will be a damp/gray day. Maybe a few sunbreaks mixed in, but for the most part it will be a cloudy with showers at times.

2.) Friday stands the best shot at being totally dry. Maybe even a few sunbreaks during the afternoon as we sit in between storms. Highs 46 to 50°.

3.) The storm moving in early Saturday morning will have some heavier rain with it along with gusty winds. PM showers, downpours, and sunbreaks. Overall a stormy day.

4.) Sunday will feature showers and sunbreaks with some heavier downpours at times and maybe some hail mixed in with some of the heavier downpours.

5.) Additional showers Monday.

6.) A stronger storm system rolls in Tuesday through Wednesday bringing more rain, downpours, and gusty winds.

7.) The really juicy and wild news is we have the potential to see snow at some point between Thursday and Sunday of next week here in the Willamette Valley and even along the coast. Too far away to know details, but it is clear that much colder air will be dropping in from the north later next week and moisture might come with it. I’m watching things like a hawk, and will of course have more updates as time goes on. 

The Cascades

All these colder storm systems will finally bring some good, heavy snowfall for our mountains, and with the added bonus of no warm rainstorms in sight afterwards to wash it all away. Great news for the snowpack and for snow recreation! :) Hoodoo has a base of 8 inches as of Wednesday night, so let’s see how much more they have by next week….

Fri: Good travel day. Dry passes, and nothing much going on.

Sat: Very snowy with gusty winds. Terrible travel day. 12 to 18 inches of snow above 2000′.

Sun & Mon: Snow showers both days: Not real great travel days, but improved over Saturday. 12 to 16 inches for the two days above 2000′.

Tue & Wed: Heavy snow returns to the mountains along with gusty winds making for two more terrible travel days. An additional 18 to 24 inches of snow up in the Cascades above 2000 feet. Snow levels could drop low enough to impact the Coast Range Wednesday, but still too far out to know for sure.

Thu – Sun (Jan 11th – 14th): A long ways out, but expect a good chance for at least some snow over this time frame as colder air moves in. Excellent skiing conditions for the 3 day weekend!!! 🙂

Stay tuned!!!