Cold Again

Our closing quote today ties in well with the latest forecast, so get set, ready, read.

This past week of rather bland weather is coming to an end today, with showers moving across the region as this is written.  On Saturday, as discussed previously, a MUCH COLDER air mass arrives, driven in by High pressure dropping south out of the interior of Canada.  The front edge of the modified-Arctic air will not carry a lot of moisture, so showers and snow showers will be limited.  However, by late afternoon on Saturday, as the cold settles in via STRONG Fraser Gap winds, any moisture will fall as SNOW.  Said cold air will also push west out of the Columbia River Gorge late Saturday, so portions of western OR could also see showers of The White in the evening.   

By Sunday, the entire PNW will be QUITE COLD, with high temps struggling to exceed 35-39 degrees; potentially a bit COLDER ON MONDAY, Jan 30.  Overnight in the low 20s, in wind sheltered locations. Mittens time.  East winds will slowly diminish late Sunday; while it will be rather windy in southern OR, northern CA.  Models are split on whether or not moisture returns on Tue/Wed; if it does, it will fall as snow or snow/rain mixed.  Most of the precip is charting for north of Salem/Portland, and will turn to rain later on Wed, if it arrives at all.

That said, The next threat for precip is now trending to arrive late Thu or Fri; it could hold off until Fri night.  This system will move in from the west/southwest, so rain is the may form of precip we’ll receive.  The air mass west side should warm up enough to mitigate any snow threat, although that will be a possibility for the Gorge.  We can review this on Jan 30.

The first weekend of February is looking wet, with temperatures much warmer than the previous week.  Our ‘return to winter’ conditions will also mean a major cold snap for much of the Nation next week.

From the ’Net:  “It’s like winter is really mad and keeps storming out of the room and then coming back yelling, ‘And another thing!'"