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May 2008
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December 2007 ArchivesWhat's this another blog entry! Two in one day, what's the world coming too? Anyway since everybody is doing a 2007 look back, here's my version. Drum roll please....The 2007 weather review.
A couple of statisticsI left off the graphic above, the coldest high temperature. 32 degrees on January ... Right now the Cascade Mountains of Oregon are a skiers dream. In the last week over 3 feet of snow has fallen in the mountains. Mt. Hood ski resorts are reporting reporting well over a 100 inch base. What's even better the type of snow, this is not the usual "Cascade Concrete" most Oregon skiers are used to. It's a light fluffy powder. Skiing the pow-pow is like skiing through flour. Each one of those snow flakes means dollars to mo... Unless you live above 500 to 700 ft, this snow forecast was a big fat bust. As I said in last night's blog, I was not real impressed with the potential for an all-out valley white-out. The computer guidance up to last night was pretty much saying snow, but a couple things needed to happen: We needed really heavy precipitation rates! When that happens, melting snow cools the air and lowers the snow level. I've seen it happen here, but i... This isn't the perfect situation for widespread valley snow, and the closer we get to Thursday morning the less impressed I am with the potential for heavy valley snow. The problem, as I see it, is the wind direction. Too much south wind, not enoough east or north wind. Yes, the pre-existing air mass is cold, Hillsboro has already been as low as 28°. But we can warm up rapidly when the south wind aloft gets going. I use the term "warm" a bit l... So here we are, 9:30 on the night before Christmas. Not a creature is stirring - except for the Christmas storm that is getting closer and closer to the Northwest! But will that storm bring a white Christmas to Portland? The latest computer model updates have recently come in, and they are largely unchanged - which means my forecast of rain, and only rain, in Portland for tomorrow afternoon still looks pretty reliable. Of course, ab... Working in television has many perks and benefits - but it also comes with some negatives. One of those negatives is the wacky schedule! =) But there's one day that you may be surprised to learn that I don't mind working, and that day is Christmas Eve.
Just a quick update for all of you blog readers out there... Yesterday I blogged about the difficulty of predicting snow in the Northwest. As of today, it still looks like parts of Portland could see some snow on Christmas! Late on Christmas Eve, rain will begin in downtown Portland - but above 1,000 feet, snow will be falling - and it will be accumulating. After midnight on Christmas Day, as we head into the 26th, the snow level wi... So on tonight's newscasts I explained that some valley snow is possible by late in the day on Christmas. I also said that it's still up in the air - that the snow level could be anywhere between the valley floor and 1,000 feet. Why don't I know exactly what's going to happen? Well - that's a pretty complicated question! Forecasting, in general, is very complicated. One part of most meteorologists' forecasts is advanced computer mod... Now that winter solstice has passed, most folks expect the days to get longer. The sun should begin to set a little later and rise a little earlier each day. But if you look at at a sunrise-sunset table, you'll find this is only half true until early January. In Portland, the "crossover" date, which I'll explain later, comes on January 5th in 2008. Until then, yes, our sunset ... So here it is Wednesday morning and I'm chained to camera five doing cutins while I watch and report about the snow falling in the Cascades. I'm green with envy for those who are able to get some time in on the slope today. Not to pour any salt in the wound Amy Troy, just came by the weather center to check on snow conditions. Amy, has been dubbed our snow bunny today. She's been dispatched up to Mt. Hood to report on travel and sk... Get set everybody it's going to be a very, very active week in the weather. A lot of people will be on the go later this week. Many of you will be taking to the roads, rails and sky for Christmas vacation. With several storms headed for the region over the next few days, deteriorating weather might slow down a lot of travelers-especially if you're driving over any mountain passes.
My ski season got off to a well-fed and scenic start last weekend at the Five-Mile Fire Lookout Tower in the Mt Hood National Forest.
I spent an hour or so out in the crisp cold night making pictures of the lookout tower. This 30 second exposure is one of my favorites. I've skied into fire lookout towers more... Cold weather has become pretty common around here! Today the high temperatures in Portland didn't get out of the 30s. And this past Sunday, highs didn't get out of the 30s, either. In fact, it was cold enough for a little light snow. Not quite as much as in this picture, but still, it was something. =) The storm pictured below is developing rapidly Sunday night and will cause more potentially damaging winds over the Northwest. Ahead of this 3rd storm, winds gusted to 113 mph just after 10 pm Sunday night at Cape Blanco on the southern Oregon Coast. The storm will continue to strengthen... we call this "deepening" in meteorology because the pressure gets lower as the storm gets stronger... until Monday morning when it begins to weaken, or fil... Wow. I can't remember the last time we had such an incredible array of weather issues around the Northwest. Let's start with the snow. Portland didn't see much because as the storm developed off the Washington Coast, it induced too much of a south wind. This warms the lowest elevations enough to turn the precipitation to liquid. This is always a concern when forecasting a storm that develops to the north of Portland. We had enough cold air in ... |
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