Right now (just before 11AM Saturday) as I type this up, it’s actually incredibly sunny outside with virtually no clouds in sight; however, things will change quickly this afternoon as a strong cold front races inland. The estimated radar for 2PM today shows a rather heavy band of rain moving right across the region at that time which will end our nice dry weather.
Here’s a link to the satellite loop which is also doing a good job of tracking our incoming system.
Gusty winds out of the south/southwest will accompany this band of rain with gusts of 35 to 45mph likely today and Sunday. Rain totals between now and Sunday night will come close to reaching 1 inch here in the mid valley with some “lucky” folks surpassing that. Here’s the total rainfall ending at 11PM Sunday night.
Notice totals over an inch around Corvallis and of course along the coast. Again, things will change QUICKLY here in the next few hours as we plung back into a very stormy pattern.
Next check out the snowfall totals for today and Sunday.
Plenty of new snow up in the Cascades with about 10 to 15 inches falling above 4000′. Hazardous travel conditions up there from 4/5PM today through most of the day tomorrow. Great news for the snowpack though!
There you have it. A sudden switch to stormy weather approaches. This is the first storm in a long, long series of storms, so I hope you enjoyed the dry weather while it has lasted.
Wintry and cold weather is returning in a big way in the coming days. Here’s what the next 7 days look like (for the moment) with all the details you need to know.
Highlights and details
1.) Frequent showers along with a few sunbreaks will dominate the weather Sunday. Hail could mix in with the downpours.
2.) Monday will be a cooler version of Sunday. Sunbreaks, scattered showers with the possibility of hail and or snow mixing in at times. Snow levels close to around 1000′.
3.) Monday night through Tuesday morning temperatures drop into the 20s with scattered rain showers transitioning into a few light snow showers and flurries. Breezy north winds will make it feel extremely cold outside and any moisture left on the roads will freeze over making for a potentially icy commute Tuesday morning. At this time I am not expecting much snow at all as this airmass will be drying out quickly. I will have an updated forecast either Sunday night or Monday morning with projected snowfall totals (if any). For the time being plan on seeing little more than either a few flakes in the air to maybe an inch of snow at most late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Again, very tricky in these scenarios to determine snowfall totals. If you have lived around here for any given amount of time you know this to be true. We also all know that it doesn’t take much snow or ice to mess up the roads, so will be watching this closely.
4.) Our coldest temperatures come Tuesday night with clear skies and calm winds allowing temps to plummet into the lowers 20s or even the upper teens making for a very cold night!
5.) Sunny weather Wednesday and Thursday will help a little with the cold temps during the afternoon hours, but again, it will only help so much as we will be under the influence of a cold arctic airmass. By Thursday night/Friday we could see the return of either some light showers or possibly a few more snow showers, but too early to make any solid predictions yet. What’s certain is we have two days of chilly showers Sunday & Monday before things turn very cold Monday night. The colder weather should last through at least Thursday.
6.) A good dump of snow for the Cascades through all this with 12 to 20 inches of snow falling through Tuesday, and several inches expected in the Coast Range.
Okay have a safe and great rest of your weekend and keep an eye out for another update as we get closer to Monday evening!
Record warmth has gripped the region exactly one year after (to the date) we experienced our worst ice storm in decades. Seems like distant memory right? We also tied our coldest high temperature ever recorded for the day on February 12th, 2021 with a high of 30°. But what a huge difference a year makes. We are now in the middle of a historic “heatwave” for mid February. I borrowed this graphic from Fox 12 Oregon showing some of the record highs set on yesterday (February 11th).
Temperatures as of 1PM look like this:
60s dominating the region again today both along the coast and in the valley. The only exceptions are locations near Eugene and south towards Roseburg where low level clouds and fog have limited the warming a bit.
Sunday will also be very warm as we see a third day of 60 degree temps. Really incredible!
Monday will probably feel like a slap in the face with highs in the upper 40s along with clouds and frequent showers. Close to a foot of snow is expected to fall in the Cascades and the valley should receive nice little soaking.
Maybe a leftover shower Tuesday before drying back out for Wednesday through next Saturday. Highs most of next week will be in the low to mid 50s.
Last night a quick moving, but somewhat powerful cold front raced through the region bringing a burst of heavy rain, gusty winds and a big drop in the snow levels. Snow levels are down to around 1500 – 2000′ right now, and are expected to drop even more tonight. Expect showers and sunbreaks today and again tomorrow. A few showers could have some ice pellets or even wet snow mixed in – specifically early Tuesday morning. Showers will also be widely scattered, so not looking at a big washout by any means.
Watch for icy roads tonight and Tuesday morning. This is always a concern with these setups when we have both a cool airmass in place and showers around. Definitely something to watch for, so be extra careful driving tonight and early tomorrow morning.
After getting a few inches last night, the Cascades will pick up another 8 to 12 inches of snow over the next couple of days which is great news as the snowpack up there has been slowly, but steadily receding due to the lack of stormy weather the past 3 weeks now.
No big storms in sight. We will continue to stay in a quiet weather pattern with chilly nights, alternating days of fog, sun, and occasional days with a few showers, but overall nothing major at all. Happy last day of January!
We have had a long stretch of really calm weather, and looking ahead it seems clear this calm weather is here to stay for about 6 more days. Check this 24 hour precip chart for Salem.
Looking at this I can say with confidence our dry weather ends next Friday as we head into a much wetter weather pattern. Until then it should be nothing but fog and sun! Speaking of fog and sun, check out this awesome video showing how the east winds from the Columbia River Gorge ate away at the fog earlier. Really really cool to see!
By the time 3PM rolled around most of the Willamette Valley was in the sun. This satellite image shows fog hanging out south of about Albany with sun to the north.
The bottom line is we should continue to see either sun or fog now through next Thursday. It’s tough this time of year because it’s still winter time and the sun angel simply isn’t high or strong enough to break up the fog unless we get help from the wind – like we did today. This makes forecasting the high temps difficult as a foggy day could very easily stay in the 30s; however, the days we manage to breakout of the fog (like today) have the chance to reach the lower 50s. Excellent weather along the coast for the most part during this time as well.
Fairly strong signals we will move back into a much cooler/colder weather pattern by the time we enter February. Way too far out to mention much about snow, but I’ll be watching things closely. Just something to keep in the back of our minds as we close out the month….
Okay, take care and have a great rest of your weekend!
After an active December and first few days of January, the weather has really really slowed down. Tame and uneventful weather looks to continue for the next 2 weeks! There is no sign whatsoever of any cold or snowy weather, nor is there any sign of a big rain or wind storm. This image showing 24 hour rain totals illustrates this calm weather pattern quite well.
As you can see, no big rainstorms in sight.
What you can expect over the next 2 weeks:
Now through Monday: Mostly sunny and dry. A few clouds here and there, maybe some patchy fog, but totally dry. Highs 48 – 52° and lows in the low to mid 30s.
Tuesday – Thursday of next week will feature a few light showers. Enough to wet everything down a bit, but nothing more than that. These will all be very weak systems with no real impact on our daily lives.
Next Friday through much of the following week will be mostly dry, lots of sun with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s, and lows in the low to mid 30s still. Like I said, very uneventful, and extremely tame.
What does this calm weather mean for the rest of winter? Well nobody can know for sure; however, I looked back at previous La Nina winters that also had slow/tame weather in January, and just about all of those years had big switches back to cooler and wetter weather in both February and March. So, I would say we are far from done with winter here. Sea surface temperature anomalies also indicate that both La Nina and the cold pool of water south of Alaska (both of which affect our weather) are still going strong. These areas of cooler water show up very well on this map.
There you have it. Calm and fairly “mild” weather will rule the day for the foreseeable future. Enjoy it while it lasts because history tells us February often times brings much different weather to our region…
Seems like the weather has gone postal. Salem is experiencing it’s wettest day in years, possibly decades??? Hard to know as we still have 6 more hours to go before the day ends. As of 6PM the airport had recorded 2.27″ of rain!! Fortunately the snow levels were low or else flooding could have been much worse. Even so, I see many of the local rivers including the Mary’s River, Pudding, River, and Luckiamute River are all rising quickly today. The Willamette here in Salem is also forecast to top out a good 10 feet higher than it is right now by the time Friday rolls around. I could see the road from the Independence bridge closing for a couple of days if the water gets high enough. And then there was the wind. A number of power outages were reported last night with the gusty winds. Gusts reached 45 to almost 50mph in some locations.
Meanwhile I-84 through the gorge has been closed since last night due to heavy snow and freezing rain. Some locations out near Hood River and Cascade Locks have picked up close to 2 feet of snow!! Highway 20 (Santiam Pass) is also closed due to heavy snow. In fact at this point it would be wise to check your route before going anywhere far as we have cool air moving in tonight causing snow levels to drop back down close to the valley floor again…
Anyone could see a slushy inch or two of snow tonight with the heavier showers. I’m not expecting it for most of us, but know it’s a possibility.
We for sure switch to regular rain by tomorrow mid morning at the latest. More rain Tuesday, showers on Wednesday, and another powerful and very moist storm moves in for Thursday and Friday. By the time we reach Sunday we could be looking at a grand total of 5+ inches of rain for the week (counting today’s total)! I hope you all own boats….
Stay safe out there! You just endured one of the darkest days we have had this winter. Very minimal sunlight this time of year anyway. Add in heavy rain most of the day, and it’s no wonder there was not much sunlight making it through the clouds, so treat yourself to something nice tonight haha, you made it!
Bryan Weather Alerts 