With the coronavirus dominating seemingly every aspect of our lives, it’s hard to pay attention to much else, including the weather. The situation unfolding in Italy right now is horrifying, particularly considering that the country was in completely fine shape just two weeks ago, and I fear it is only a matter of time before something similar occurs in the United States. Regardless of the severity of the outbreak in our neck of the woods, this pandemic will significantly alter our lives for at least the next several months. Nevertheless, life will go on, and we’ll just need to do what we can to help mitigate the spread of the disease. If anything, think about the pandemic as a great opportunity to improve your social awareness by monitoring how often you wash your hands, touch your face, and respect other peoples’ personal space!
On that note, let’s direct our attention to the weather. I arrived in Salt Lake City last night for a ski trip with several friends, and sure enough, Portland saw some snow today (snow always seems to fall when I am out of town). Most snow fell in locations above 500 feet; here’s a photo taken by fellow WeatherTogether blogger Karl Bonner of some snow on Mt. Scott.
We are currently in a highly anomalous, “blocky” pattern, with a big ridge in the Eastern Pacific flanked by two upper-level lows to its SE and SW. This pattern is known as an “omega block” because it resembles the capitalized “omega” letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ω ) and “blocks” the prevailing westerly flow from affecting the area. Those directly under the ridge tend to see dry, calm, warm weather, but those on its flanks, particularly its eastern flank, are susceptible to arctic outbreaks as the ridge displaces arctic air and allows it to slide southward.
Credit: WeatherTogether Models
The snow we saw today was courtesy of a surface low on the leading edge of this upper-level trough bringing cold, showery weather into the area. The satellite picture below shows both this low off the Oregon Coast and the cold, dry airmass in its wake off the coast of Vancouver Island and points north.
Credit: College of Dupage
There are still some showers around the area tonight, and with temperatures expected to drop into the mid-low 30s tonight for most locations, any of these showers could give sticking snow down to the valley floor. The best chance for accumulating snow is from approximately 3am through 10am tomorrow, and though accumuluations below 500′ will likely be less than half an inch and confined to grassy surfaces, areas above 500′ could see up to 1-2″ of snow. Travel will not be impacted – road temperatures are well above freezing and will remain snow-free.
Here’s the current radar for your convenience – that band of showers to the SW of Portland will be the culprit for the snow Saturday morning.
Portland Int’l Airport has yet to see measurable snow this winter. I don’t know what the record is for “latest first snow of the winter,” but if Portland sees some tomorrow, it’ll certainly be in the running!
Charlie
