Tag: nature

Wild weather update

On By bryanweatherIn Salem Area Forecast, The Mountains and Beyond, WEATHER ALERTSLeave a comment

It’s been a very rainy, and at times, windy week. The wind event Christmas night pretty much met expectations with most valley locations recording gusts between 45 and 50mph, and some locations reaching the 55mph mark. At the peak of the storm about 30,000 PGE customers were without power in Marion County.

Rainfall has also been fairly consistent and even heavy at times. Here are rainfall totals for the past 7 days.

Generally 3 to 4 inches in the Willamette Valley upwards of 7 to 12 inches of precipitation in both the Coast and Cascade Ranges. Ignore the locations showing no rainfall. Sure, there’s a rain shadow effect, but it’s not that severe. Technical issues are to blame for those spots.

Salem can expect an additional inch of rain now through Sunday. All this rain is adding up and taking a toll on local rivers. Below is a chart showing both observed and forecasted river heights for the Willamette River in Salem.

The Willamette is definitely running full, but it is forecasted to stop just short of causing any major issues or extensive road closures.

The Forecast

Steady rain returns overnight and lasts through Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon will feature showers and downpours with a few sunbreaks mixed in. Winds will once again turn quite strong during the day tomorrow. Gusts 30 to 40mph are possible late Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon.

Snow will be heavy up in the Cascades with 12 to 18 inches of new snow falling above 4000′ tonight through Sunday night.

Monday: More sunbreaks, but scattered showers and downpours will show up from time to time.

Tue & Wed: Tuesday will be dry. Fog is likely Tuesday morning especially, but we should manage some decent sunbreaks during the afternoon. Rain moves in late Tuesday night right around midnight. So there are no guarantees your midnight street runs and fireworks will be completely dry. 😉

Thu – Sun: The rest of the week appears to stay on the wet side with periods of rain and frequent showers.

The rain Sunday could cause a few additional problems for some of you, but once we get through Sunday the threat for flooding will subside for the time being. There are no wind storms on the horizon either. Just regular Oregon rain as we ring in the new year.

Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Chilly dry weather

On By bryanweatherIn Salem Area Forecast, The Mountains and Beyond, WEATHER ALERTSLeave a comment

We are now entering into what will be a long stretch of dry weather. It may not feel dry with the cold damp fog hanging over our heads, but no additional rain is expected between now and at least next Wednesday (December 4th). Excellent news for people traveling by road! Our dry spell will be marked with fog that lasts for long periods of the day, or in some cases the entire day, occasional sunbreaks, and chilly temperatures.

Expect widespread frost possible each morning over these next several days with many of us seeing our first hard freeze of the year at some point this week. These strong ridge setups in the dead of winter are tricky because if the fog holds then temperatures can also hold steady throughout the day, but if the airmass manages to dry out a little then we could see a wider rang of temperatures.

For now I’m going with lows of 28 to 33 degrees – again depending on the extent of fog, and highs in the low 40s. Today will actually probably be our “mildest” day of the week as we are just entering into this inversion pattern. Our temperature as of 10:45AM is already a “balmy” 43°.

Remember, in these inversion setups both the coast and the Cascades are often times clear and sunny. Not warm, but escaping the fog can be nice. Here’s a snapshot of Newport Bay courtesy of Koin News and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Next we have a beautiful sunny picture from Hoodoo earlier this morning. Brilliant sunshine up above the inversion, and with 34 inches of snow at their base they are all set to open this Friday per their website. A great start to the year!!

God created a pretty incredible world, and I hope we can both take care of it and enjoy it. Stay safe, have fun, enjoy the people around you, and happy Thanksgiving!!

Wet week in review and a look ahead

On By bryanweatherIn 2024, 2024/2025, Archives, Extra!!, Monthly reports, Salem Area Forecast, The Mountains and Beyond, WEATHER ALERTSLeave a comment

As promised, this week has been very winter like with lots of rain, chilly temperatures, and at times, gusty winds. Below is a county map of Oregon showing total rainfall over the past 7 days. Most of the Willamette Valley has picked up around 3 inches of rain since last Saturday!

The other big change over the past week has been the well advertised increase in mountain snow. Hoodoo had a 15 inch base early this afternoon with 4 to 8 inches of new snow expected this evening through Sunday morning.

Looking ahead

Tonight: Showers increasing through the evening. Lows tonight in the mid 40s.

Sunday: Mostly dry with some a little bit of sun, and only a slight chance of a shower. Highs into the upper 50s.

Monday: Rain returns as a quick moving cold front sweeps in from the northwest. PM sunbreaks and showers. Highs in the mid to upper 50s.

Tuesday (Election Day): Highs around 57° with a fair amount of sunbreaks, and a slight chance for a brief shower or two.

Wed – Fri: Lots of fog. This time of year can be incredibly foggy, especially after having so much rain. Expect widespread fog each of these three days. Lows will likely bottom out in the 35 to 38° range and highs 49 to near 50 degrees assuming we get some afternoon sunbreaks. Lows could dip to freezing for areas that receive a little more clearing at night.

Next weekend: Rain appears likely, but obviously subject to change being several days out.

No big storms on the horizon at this time, and nothing real out of the ordinary for early November. No signs of any big warm rainstorms to wash away our early snowpack either as temperatures remain a little cooler than normal in the coming days.

October 2024

October may have ended on a cooler note, but overall it was quite mild being 2.8 degrees warmer than normal. As far as precipitation goes, we finished the month above average with a total of 3.8″ to kick off our new water year. Average for October is 3.47″. Over 2 inches of that rain fell during the final week of the month.

Have a great and safe rest of your weekend!