Headlines

• More comfortable weather Wednesday and Thursday. Still warm, but no more heat.
• Humid and damp Friday and Saturday with widespread showers likely.
• Warm nights continue through Friday night.
• Cooler morning lows in the 50s begin on Sunday and last through next week.
• Regular warm and dry weather next week and the following weekend.

Details

Phew! We are making it through the hottest stretch of weather we have seen all summer long. As of 4pm our area temps look like this:

Pretty hot out there!! Not only did Salem see back to back highs above the century mark, but our lows have been warm too. It took until 4AM before we finally fell below 70 degrees Monday morning which of course lead to a sweltering high of 102° yesterday. This type of heat makes for a long day of attempting to keep the house cool when you can’t get cool air from outside during the night. Tonight, we are headed for the low 60s tonight which is slightly better than what we have seen lately.

Pretty typical summertime weather Wednesday and Thursday. This means mostly sunny skies, maybe a few clouds here and there, and highs in the 80s. The heat will be over. We’ve actually had a pretty decent summer in regards to heat when compared to the past several summers. For example, last summer Salem saw a total of 38 days at or above 90 degrees, and so far this summer (including today) we are “only” at 17.

Friday and Saturday will bring a fairly substantial opportunity for rainfall. Quite a bit more than what we saw with last week’s sprinkles. This setup will likely provide our region with a good soaking. Last week’s rain did not penetrate very far south or east into Oregon, and really favored the northwestern portion of the state as you can see from the map below:

The rain we’re expecting Friday and Saturday will be more widespread in its extent. This next image shows estimated rainfall totals for our incoming storm.

Significantly more rain further south and east than what we saw last week. Despite the expected rainfall, it’s going to feel rather uncomfortable and humid both Friday and Saturday. Warm and moist southwest winds coupled with cloud cover will make for a sticky couple of days as lows only dip to the mid 60s each night.

Relief comes Saturday evening as the cold front moves through. Temperatures early Sunday morning will begin in the upper 50s. Afternoon highs around 80° with a leftover shower possible, especially up in the foothills and Cascades.

Regular dry and warm summertime weather returns Monday and lasts through the following weekend (Aug 23rd and 24th). This will indeed be a very nice stretch of weather with highs in the 80s each afternoon and lows regularly dipping into the low and mid 50s. Highs gradually warm each day through the week with upper 80s by next weekend.

Enjoy the weather, and stay safe out there!

Wednesday is going to feel like a super early taste of fall. If you don’t want summer to be over yet, well don’t worry, summer weather is poised to make a quick return by the weekend. In fact, we could be looking at highs at or slightly above 100 degrees next Monday.

Details

Wednesday: Showers and light rain push in before sunrise with scattered showers lasting on and off throughout the day, but lessening as we head into the afternoon. Highs just barely reaching 70 or so. Rain should fall for most locations west of the Cascades from Eugene northward. Western Washington and the Olympic Peninsula up there could see upwards of a half inch of rain or more. Great news for fighting fires burning that way!

Thu & Fri: A few morning clouds with afternoon highs 80 – 84°.

Sat: Significantly warmer with highs in the upper 80s.

Sun – Tue: Highs in the 90s to 100°. It’s going to be a real hot stretch with lows only dipping to the mid 60s.

Next Wednesday we return to more usual warm summer weather with mid 80s for highs.

Enjoy the weather whiplash haha and stay safe out there!

A very short post today. We have a typical thunderstorm pattern for summertime here. Southerly/southeasterly flow aloft is bringing monsoonal moisture to the region. This flow favors thunderstorms to develop over the Cascades, central, and eastern Oregon; however, it can lead to some isolated storms or leftover showers to drift NW over the valley.

In fact, the clouds we saw this morning are a result of the same scenario. The difference is that moisture and instability increase tonight and Thursday. This means showers could drift over the Willamette Valley at any point tonight through Thursday. Nothing long lasting or widespread. Just know that a brief disruption to our regular dry summer weather will be taking place and showers are possible.

Dry summertime weather returns on Friday.

Take care and stay safe!

Rain in July is very rare, light, and often times scattered in nature. The showers we saw Sunday and early Monday morning were no different with the Portland metro area being the big winner as you can see from this rainfall chart below.

Some fairly hefty downpours across parts of eastern Oregon in addition to the Portland area seeing rain. Much of the coastline and the central and southern Willamette Valley remained mostly dry, but now it’s back to regular summertime weather.

Forecast highlights

• The next several days should be rather pleasant with highs ranging from the low 80s to low 90s through this coming Tuesday. A very typical summertime forecast with varying amounts of low clouds during the morning hours, lots of afternoon sunshine, and dry.
• Cool nights stick around. I don’t see any morning lows warmer than 60° on the horizon, and in fact, lows should make it down to the lower 50s most evenings. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the fresh air and cool evenings, so I’m happy to see that continue!
• Saturday and Sunday in particular both look cloudier and cooler, but dry. Highs upper 70s to low 80s.
• Watching for a shower/thunderstorm chance next Wednesday and Thursday. Despite being several days out, the chance is high enough to be mentioned. I’ll keep an eye on that threat and will do my best to update you as time gets closer.

Take care and stay safe out there!

We had a scorcher today! Highs ended up in the upper 90s up and down the I-5 corridor this afternoon.

For the next several days, our temperatures slowly and steadily drop each day until we find ourselves down to the upper 70s by Monday. The cooldown will be gradual. Right now I’m thinking it goes something like this:

Relief from the heat comes slowly late tonight with temperatures expected to cool off to around 58° come early Thursday morning. Temperatures cool off much quicker in the evenings to follow with lows ranging between 52 to 57° through next Wednesday. Plenty of cool fresh air each night beginning Thursday evening! 🙂

Lastly, we could even see a few showers Monday for areas west of the Cascades. Would certainly feel refreshing, and it would help keep the fire risk down at least temporarily.

Looking out beyond next Wednesday, it appears our usual summertime weather will continue to dominate the region. This means dry/mostly dry weather, lots of sunshine, and highs primarily in the 80s to low 90s.

Take care, and stay safe out there!

We are entering the middle of July now and our regular summertime pattern has taken hold of the region. Highs the past several days have ranged from 80 to 93° with no rainfall and no rain in sight. Highs will bounce around between the mid 80s to upper 90s over the next 10 days making for a hot stretch of summer weather. At this time, Sunday and Wednesday look to be the hottest days this coming week with highs reaching the mid and upper 90s. Monday is the only day this coming week that might be close to average with highs in the mid 80s (I’m going with 87°). Still a hot day, but more comfortable than those mid 90s. Lows Tuesday morning will dip back into the upper 50s providing a brief respite from the heat.

Details

Sat: Morning low of 62° and daytime high of 91°.

Sun: 64°/94°.

Mon: 64°/87°.

Tue: 57°/91°.

Wed: Hot! 64°/97°.

Thu: 64°/91°.

Fri: 59°/88°.

Afternoon and evening breezes look to be pretty regular over the next several days. The breezes should help take the edge off the heat just a little making it feel slightly more comfortable.

Next weekend: Still looking hot with more 90s likely. The next six weeks are historically very dry and warm around here, and rain during this timeframe is rare. I’ll keep my eye out for any chances at rain, any thunderstorm chances, or anything else real unusual or impactful. Stay cool and stay safe out there!

Time for a quick Independence Day forecast.

The quick version

Sunday through Tuesday: Very warm. Highs 90 to 92°.

Wednesday: More reasonable with mostly skies and highs around 83°.

Thursday through Sunday: Highs in the upper 70s to low 80s with cool mornings starting out in the lower 50s each day and more cloud cover, especially during the morning hours.

Details

For the next three days we will be under the influence of a high pressure bringing us very warm weather. The map below shows this very nicely with the warm airmass centered directly above Oregon Sunday night.

The second half of the week will be dominated by marine onshore flow. This next map illustrates this well showing the high pressure being pushed to the east allowing cooler air from the ocean to move inland early Thursday morning.

Overall, it’s looking mostly dry the next 7 days with some minor exceptions, and depending on your travel plans, these exceptions could effect you.

Exception #1. A few thunderstorms and showers are likely in the Cascades and in central Oregon Monday through Wednesday.

Exception #2. Drizzle and a few sprinkles are possible along portions of the coast specifically Thursday through Sunday. During those four days the onshore flow is stronger which will bring in marine air. During summertime, these setups can produce very light (and spotty) precipitation along the coast and even in parts of the Coast Range.

So, after a few very warm days to begin the week, we return to the stronger onshore flow which will return temperatures back to normal or even slightly below normal just in time for the 4th of July weekend. Much more comfortable than the scorcher we saw last Independence Day. 🙂