What are the 2 bright lights in the sw sky tonight (11/23/08)? Also did the space shuttle fly over tonight?

Hey Jason,

The two bright lights in the SW sky are Jupiter and Venus, with Venus being the brighter of the two, lower and to the right. But the positions are changing! The two planets are getting closer together and soon Jupiter will be above and to the right. In a few days, the new crescent moon will be in the neighborhood and make for a beautiful 3-body conjunction.

And yes, the ISS is visible over Portland, when it's clear. The fly-over usually only lasts a couple of minutes and the ISS moves pretty quickly. The time and location changes every night, I'll post a few here later today.

Happy Trails,

Matt Zaffino

Matt, I just previewed the photos on your 2009 calendar - they are spectacular!! I'd love to see these photos on a computer screen saver. How about it?

Thanks Paula! We'll be posting a slide show of the calendar pics on kgw.com. I'll check and see if you can grab those for screen saving. Great idea!

Matt

Does KGW have any pictures from the 1968 snow storm in Portland? I was 13 at the time and would love to see those. If you have them could you post them?

Great idea Patty! We should have some old film. I'll see if we can dig it up and get it on air and on line.

Happy Holidays,

Matt Zaffino

Matt, Great job during the snow and ice of last month. Question: Do you see any build up of really cold air up north and if so what are the chances of that coming into the PDX area?? With this high starting to build it sounds similar to last time. Thanks Brian

Hey Brian, Thanks.
It's been really cold in AK and northern Canada for weeks, but that doesn't always mean it's coming here. In fact it usually does NOT make it west of the Continental Divide. That said, I will be not at all surprised to see us get more valley snow and cold air at the end of January or in February. There are some inital indications of just that, in fact, in the long range models. Those models are often VERY unreliable, but given the current state of La Nina and some other factors, I won't at all be surprised to see another cold snap or valley snow. Will it be AS cold or AS snowy? Too soon to say, but stay tuned!

Matt Zaffino
KGW Chief Meteorologist

Lizzy, good question, one that has been debated for years in the mountaineering community. I'll leave your comments and question below for others to read.

Most climbers understand and accept the risk they take on in their endeavors. Can we, or should we, be kept off the mountains? The answer, I'm sure, from the climbing community is a resounding no. You never hear about the hundreds of climbers who safely climb in the mountains, or those who make good decisions about turning back when conditions go bad. Mountaineering is an inherently dangerous activity. We accept the risk and do all we can to minimize it. That level of acceptance varies from climber to climber and from situation to situation. The non-climbing public has a hard time with that, but I don't think closing the mountains is practical or acceptable. Should climbers be financially responsible for rescue efforts? That's another hotly debated question in the climbing community. What does everyone out there think? I invite you to post your comments here.

Matt Zaffino
Matt:
I have really been concerned lately about the hikers/skiers/idiots, that have access to Mt. Hood no matter the weather conditions, is there any way that they can be kept off the mountain?
You can give them all the locators in the world, but common sense doesn't seem to play on their planet.
Is there any way to prevent deadly conquests and costly consequences during the winter months? Can there be closed trails at any time? I realize it is a fairly large area to control, but are there any controls in place to prevent people from hiking in dangerous terrain and conditions?

Thanks for the question Deanie... yes.. it has switched to a Spanish language network called Estrella. We hope to have the KGW Weather Channel pop up again soon on another subchannel.

Thanks for watching KGW!

Matt Zaffino

what happened to the local weather channel i use to get on my tv (with rabbit ears)?

it seems to have disappeared very recently

Hey Anne.... Whatever your bet was, time to pay up to your husband. Zaffino is definitely Italian. Both of my Dad's parents were Italian. My Mom's side is mainly Irish. So there you have it.
Thanks for watching KGW,

Matt Zaffino

Hi Matt!

I hope you won't be offended or consider this query insensitive, but my husband and I have a dispute about your ethnic background. He insists that you must be of Italian descent, but I disagree. Is "Zaffino" an Italian name? We do agree, however, that you are our favorite weatherman! Keep up the good work!

Ann