Well, no major surprises yesterday. As forecasted, a very cold rain fell through most of the Sunday with snow mixing in above 500 – 1000 feet with plenty of snow falling in both the Cascades and the Coast Range. The airmass outside this morning is chilly. Check out area temps as of 8AM.

There are pretty clear signals that we will continue to stay under the influence of cool airmasses for at least the next 7 days. I see several more chances for snow coming up this week as well; although, at this time none of them are looking real solid. Here’s my latest thoughts.

The rest of today/tonight: We could see a brief snow shower, but do not expect accumulation. We have a better chance of seeing ice pellets or even hail accumulate today than we do with snow, and even that chance is minimal.

Tuesday: It really comes down to how cold we get tonight. If we can get down to 30° or colder, then I believe we have a decent shot at snow. The problem is we have no real source of cold air to draw from, and we don’t have arctic air in place either like we have had for past snowstorms. The precipitation is arriving during the daytime on Tuesday which is why it’s crucial (if you want snow) that we start the day off cold. I’m still leaning towards no accumulating snow except maybe briefly in the highest hills around town (west and south Salem). Could be a situation where we see lots of snow falling through the air, but not sticking here in town. I’ll have an update tonight and possibly again tomorrow morning as we get closer.

Wed & Thu: Low snow levels continue. Not expecting much (if anything) during this time either, but will keep an eye on things in case changes pop up.

Fri: Will likely end up being a similar to what we are seeing today, but with maybe a little more precip, and slightly cooler temps. Those two changes equal a better shot at seeing some light dustings of snow around town.

Sun: Another cold system comes in bringing low snow levels again… This is a long ways off, so not too concerned about it yet, but you get the idea – low snow levels are here to stay for awhile which means lots of updates and things to keep a close watch on.

Finally, it should go without saying, but both the Coast Range and the Cascades will be getting lots and lots of snow in this cool & damp pattern. Keep this in mind when traveling as almost every highway in the state outside of the Willamette Valley will be prone to snowfall most of this coming week.

Take care and happy Monday!!

Good and happy Monday morning!!!! 11 days into the month and January is running well above normal in the precip department. We have had several wet storm systems and we have a couple more coming up this week. Take a look at the next 7 days

The heaviest rain will fall during the nighttime hours tonight through tomorrow morning and again the same story Tuesday night. Winds will also be quite gusty Tuesday and Wednesday with gusts 35 to 45mph (maybe a gust to 50 here and there Tuesday night). I suspect 2 – 3 inches fall between now and Wednesday evening here in the valley. This will be a warm rain event, so no snow in the mountains unfortunately.

The only other weather event happening over the next 8 days will be some light rain falling Friday; otherwise, the rest of the next several days should be basically dry and quiet through at least next Monday or Tuesday.

The Coast

The coast should see winds up to 65mph Tuesday and Wednesday along with 3 to 4 inches of rain, and waves topping out 30 to 40 feet! It’s going to be an extremely stormy couple of days at the good ol’ Oregon coast.

There you have it! Watch for localized flooding over the next few days with this heavy rain, and I wouldn’t be shocked if a few people lost power with the wind Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Looking further ahead, it appears as though the second half of January might turn a bit more exciting and maybe a bit cooler too ( a nice little tease hehe), but for now the only highlight worth mentioning are these couple of very wet & windy storms. Take care!!

Fox 12 Weather provided this nice graphic showing peak wind gusts from our storm Friday morning.

My forecast of 35 – 50mph turned fairly well and in the tricky world of forecasting I will jot this down as a win. 🙂

Storm number two is rolling in now. The rest of today is going to be very wet with steady rain increasing through the day and turning heavy tonight. Expect well over an inch of rain to fall by this time tomorrow. Southerly winds pick up tonight as well with gusts 30 – 40mph.

The Next 7 Days

1.) Sunday still looks like the calmest day with scattered showers, sunbreaks, and fairly light winds.

2.) Monday: Rainy through the early afternoon. Mild and breezy. Temps will likely top out around 60°.

3.) Tuesday: Still watching the potential for another round of strong winds and heavy rain, but lots still up in the air with this system. Very stormy along the coast.

4.) Wed & Thu: Showers, breezy, and lots of mountain snow. Assuming businesses are allowed to operate, ski resorts should have one of the best starts to the ski season in years with close to 30 inches of snow currently being reported at Hoodoo and more on the way later this week. There will be some melting Sun – Tue with the milder weather, but overall it looks like we are off on the right track in the snowpack department!!

Have a fantastic weekend!

There is a lot going on in the weather department, so let’s jump right in.

1.) Tonight/Friday, windy with heavy rain at times transitioning to showers during the afternoon. Maybe even a late afternoon thundershower. Gusts should top out around 40 – 50mph which is not super “wild”; however, that’s stronger than any storm we saw last winter. Expect a few power outages.

2.) A second (not as intense) round of rain and wind moves in Saturday afternoon/Saturday night. Gusts with this storm will be closer to 25 – 35mph.

3.) Sunday will be a sort of in between day with both a few showers and a few sunbreaks at times. Sunday night – Monday more rain & wind. This third storm contains a lot of moisture. We could easily see well over an inch during this timeframe. Will monitor this storm also as time gets closer.

4.) Yet another strong storm is possible Tuesday & Wednesday bringing the potential for more heavy rain and strong winds.

5.) Over 4 inches of rain are forecasted by next Thursday morning. Even if this is overdoing the rainfall by an inch we still have an extremely wet stretch of days ahead.

THE CASCADES

Very poor travel weather starting late tonight through Saturday night with heavy snow and high winds. Great snowpack building weather though with 18 – 24+ inches of new snow falling, but terrible if you wish to travel over the passes. Much better conditions on Sun & Mon.

THE COAST

• Along the Oregon coast expect lots of big waves, like 40 plus foot waves at times, powerful winds, and high surf to be the rule of thumb over the next week or so. Add in some heavy rain (3 – 6+ inches over the next several days) with the high surf, and coastal flooding is going to be an issue in places.
• Sunday looks to be the calmest day, and even that day will prove to be showery and breezy at times, but with a few glorious sunbreaks scattered in between.
• Wind gusts will also be higher at the coast, as is usual, gusting 60 to 70mph with this first system. Gusts above 50 are likely with some of next week’s storms too.

Like I said, lots going on. Okay, happy Thursday and stay safe!!