What beautiful weather we’ve had this week! I’ve been outside in shorts & a t-shirt the past few days, and let me tell ya – 60 degrees has never felt so warm before! The snowstorms of mid-February seem like a distant memory, though the widespread tree damage around my neighborhood is a sober reminder of the extraordinary ice storm we witnessed last month.
We began the workweek with an absolutely spectacular sunrise. But as good as Monday’s sunrise was here in Portland, it was even better east of the Cascades! Check out Michael Trofimov’s photo of the sunrise on the Washington State University campus.
Incredible sunrise this morning over WSU #wawx #sunrise pic.twitter.com/9qo1Kt6HBh
— Michael Trofimov (@pnwmiketrof) March 1, 2021
But if you missed the beautiful weather Monday and Tuesday, never fear! Wednesday will be even sunnier/warmer than Monday or Tuesday as a weak ridge of high pressure develops over the Pacific NW. This ridge is positioned between two deep upper-level lows; one in the Gulf of Alaska & another off the SoCal coast. Los Angeles is expected to be rainy & in the upper 50s on Wednesday, while Portland is expected to rise into the low 60s under bluebird skies! I’ll take that tradeoff any day of the week.
The first half of Thursday will also be beautiful, but high clouds will lower and thicken in the afternoon hours, and by midday Thursday, a steady, soaking rain should move ashore the Oregon Coast. This band of rain will be slow to move into the Willamette Valley, but I think we should see a few raindrops by the late afternoon or early evening. I’m crossing my fingers for a great sunrise Thursday morning – we’ll have clouds to the west but sunshine to the east, which allows the rising sun in the eastern sky to light the base of the clouds with a brilliant vermillion hue. I’m no sunrise forecaster, but I’m an optimist!
Our splendid weather will come to an end later Thursday as rain begins to fall over Western Washington & Oregon. And unlike the major Cascade snows last Friday, this storm is relatively mild and snow levels should be well above pass level. Expect steady rain for much of Friday before this system passes through in the evening and we transition to scattered showers.
We’ll see the cool, showery, and somewhat volatile springtime weather we all know and love both Saturday and Sunday. I’m not expecting any rumbles of thunder at this time, but make sure to check your radar app before you head outside! You don’t want to be seduced by beautiful, early March sunshine only to be drenched by a quick, heavy shower a few minutes later!
Next week looks like a typical springtime La Nina regime, with deep troughing just offshore directing cool, showery, northwesterly flow towards the West Coast. Even though rainfall amounts should be near or only slightly above-average, the combination of cool temperatures and orographic uplift from NW flow against the windward slopes of the Cascades & Sierra Nevada should give us above-average snowfall and allow our late season snowbuild to continue.
Credit: Climate Prediction Center
Credit: Climate Prediction Center
Speaking of snowpack, the Oregon Cascades have grown from 50-70% of average at the beginning of February to 100-120% of normal today. And the Washington Cascades are in even better shape, with many stations currently at 130-150% of average!
To summarize, enjoy the beautiful weather tomorrow, prep for a little rain Thursday evening continuing through much of Friday, and expect cooler, showery weather for the weekend with more showers and a continued cooling trend next week. And even if the skiing isn’t fantastic on Saturday after the high snow levels Friday, next week should feature some great, powdery March skiing. Just be sure to get most of your turns in before the high March sun turns the fresh snow overnight into a wet, heavy mess in the afternoon!
Charlie