Rainy Week

We lift our Mugs to all Veterans in honor of their service.  A dry spell is now appearing on the long-range charts.  In the meantime, a rainy week ahead.  Here goes - - 

A cold front passed overnight, so expect intermittent rain, showers & possible thunderstorms today on into Tue; breezy, too.  Overnight Tue, the second storm of this series arrives.  This one will be stronger & pack more moisture and WIND, so expect moderate-to-heavy rain to be in play overnight on through the day Wed Nov 13.  Rain, showers and lowering snow level overnight Wed into Thu.  Thursday does look wet early then turning drier as the sunsets.  With clearing expected Thu night, temps will begin to cool down notably.  Chilly Friday and risk of FROST Saturday morning around the region; could be a bit of fog, as well.

The weekend does chart as dry on Saturday, with the last of the series of Pacific storms moving onshore early Sunday the 17th, from north to south.  This system will usher in notably colder air, so periods of SNOW east side is probable overnight Sunday into early Monday Nov 18; although the lower Columbia Basin should simply gets cold showers.  

Refill Time.  You may recall our Ponder Point last week about North Pole air moving south, melding with a High pressure ridge over the Chukcia Sea, to set up a Yukon Dome of of 1040+mb pressure the week of Thanksgiving.  Well, it looks like models have moved up the dates of that prog to begin approx. a week early - Mon Nov 18.  Therefore, after the Sunday Nov 17 cold front passes, the PNW could be in for a stretch of DRY weather - with POWERFUL Columbia Gorge outflow winds beginning Tue the 19th.  Yes, the Fraser Gap will also usher in a strong wind field, but not a severe the Columbia Gorge situation.  Please make NOTE:  the air mass is NOT super “winter cold”, so we are not projecting a winter event; rather, a strong easterly flow down the Cascade passes, Fraser Gap and Columbia River Gorge to set up crystal clear days for Tue - Sat Nov 19-23.

—>  The Giant High Pressure Ridge is modeled to extent from the Beaufort Sea all the way south to northern NV!!  (Everyone is searching for the location of the Beaufort Sea.)  Center pressure charts at 1050+ right over Yellowstone Nat’l Park Thu Nov 20.  Should this pattern verify, expect powerful winds pushing down and out towards the WA, OR & CA coasts from that High center.  Yes, California’s Santa Ana winds will make news, along with the ‘Gap Winds’ in the PNW.  Fire issues will be dangerous for southern CA.  

We see a lessening of the winds by Sunday Nov 24th; continued dry for a few more days.  Rain may arrive again around ’travel time’ the day before Thanksgiving.