Weather, Climate, and Other Science Topics
Summer 2022 is one that Pacific Northwest seasonal forecasters would like to have back. On the heels of a very wet and cool spring, and with La Nina conditions persisting in the Tropical Pacific, forecasters favored near or slightly below-average temperatures this summer. Instead, we’ve had well-above-average temperatures ever since late June, with an astonishing […]
7am Sunday As you’ve probably heard by now, the Pacific Northwest will experience a significant, prolonged heat wave this week. Excessive Heat Watches are currently in effect for the Willamette Valley, Northeast Oregon, and nearly all of Central/Eastern Washington, and the hot weather is expected to persist throughout the week before a very gradual cooling […]
11 pm Saturday After the coldest spring on record for portions of the Pacific Northwest, true summertime warmth has finally arrived! Seattle reached 77 Friday and 86 today, and Portland hit 84 Friday and 93 today – both under bright sunny skies. And even hotter weather is expected Sunday and Monday, with triple digit temperatures […]
We are finally starting to see some summer-like weather over the Pacific Northwest. I went for a nice bike ride on Sunday down to West Point in Discovery Park, and the weather was absolutely perfect, with highs touching 70 degrees at Sea-Tac and a mix of clouds and sun. Tons of riders were out on the Burke-Gilman […]
A dangerous heat wave will impact the Pacific Northwest this week. It won’t be anywhere near as strong as the “Heat Dome” of June 26-28, but it will still bring record highs to large portions of the Pacific NW Wednesday – Friday, with record highs likely holding on for the inland Pacific NW on Saturday. […]
11:00 pm Monday What a shift in weather we’ve seen over the last week! In my last blog on 5/31, I was talking about the potential for record heat in Portland on Tuesday, 6/1. Portland indeed set a record that day, hitting 95 and breaking the record of 94 set back in 1970. Perhaps even […]
It was toasty this Memorial Day weekend! Portland hit 82 on Saturday, 84 on Sunday, and 88 today, According to chief KPTV meteorologist Mark Nelsen, this was the warmest Memorial Day weekend by average high temperature since 1992, which had an average high of 86 degrees over the three days and a peak of 93 […]
April 2021 was by far the driest April on record for Portland, with only 0.39″ of rain falling at Portland Int’l Airport. This record-dry April occurred on the heels of a much drier-than-average March. As I explained in my last blog post, the entire Western US is experiencing drought conditions, and although the drought is […]
Spring used to be my least-favorite season. Back in elementary and middle school, I grieved the transition to boring weather, the seasonal closing of ski resorts in the Cascades, and the departure of the windy, rainy weather that captured my imagination on many a winter day. I’d much rather stay up all night waiting for […]
A lot has happened in the weather department since I wrote my last blog two weeks ago. Washington, Oregon, and California all declared a State of Emergency due to widespread wildfires, and the entire Western US saw one of the hottest August heat waves on record. This heat wave gave California its worst energy crisis […]
