What a soggy stretch of days we have had lately. LOTS of rain and some big time downpours earlier this week – most notably on Wednesday. For the entire month of January we are closing in on almost 9 inches of rain here in Salem. That’s a lot, and a little more still to come.

Temperatures have become increasingly mild as well, and anyone outside today surely noticed. Take a look at the high temperatures across the Pacific Northwest for Saturday.

Next take a look at the local effect the Columbia River Gorge is still having on the Portland area. As of 8pm a “cool” easterly breeze is still keeping PDX, Troutdale, and locations right near the gorge cool while the entire rest of the region is in the upper 50s. Kind of neat to see the effect the gorge has on the area.

Both Sunday and Monday look to be about as nice of days as you can get this time of year in regards to both temperature and lack of precip. Sunday will feature a chance for a couple isolated showers, but for the most part ample sunbreaks SHOULD rule the day. Highs Sunday will likely top out in the mid to upper 60s! :) Monday will be similar, but slightly cooler with highs closer to 60 degrees which is still plenty warm for the end of January. By the way, our warmest January temperature ever recorded was 68° in 1899. Will we break that record? Time will tell, but it will definitely be mild. 

Enjoy it, after all it is still winter, and we know for certain cooler and wetter weather will return with time. In fact we know that time will be later this upcoming week lol… :) Tuesday might have a shower or two with highs in the mid to upper 50s, but the rain returns in full force Wednesday. By Thursday cooler temperatures will also return accompanied by mountain snowfall. 

The Cascades

Terrible skiing weather through Wednesday, but all signals indicate a return to much cooler weather along with fresh mountain snow and low snow levels Thursday through next weekend. So hang in there because good skiing weather will return shortly!

I hope you all can make the most of the nice weather!! :)