A recent winter forecast was released by George Taylor of the Oregon Climate Service. And if he's right, we better get ready for plenty of rain...and even some good doses of snow!

The outlook, month-by-month, looks something like this:
October - mild & dry
November- mild & wet
December - cold & wet
January - colder & wetter
February - very cold & wetter
March - cold & wet
All of those terms, 'cold and wet', are compared to our average - so a 'cold and wet' forecast for December, for example, would indicate colder and wetter than average.

Ouch! Looks like we better enjoy the warm sunshine while we can. But there's an important aspect to this that can't be overlooked.

This cold and wet winter outlook is heavily based on the thought that La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific waters by the equator, will develop over the next several months. It would then impact our weather pattern and give us what looks to be a pretty drastic dose of winter weather. And many computer models indicate that La NIna will develop. But there are still other models that say to hold on - that La Nina may not develop. If it doesn't, this winter would probably be a bit more tame than what this outlook is calling for.

So it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. Either way, with the unofficial end of summer upon us and our warm sunshine fading fast, it's not a bad idea to enjoy that sun while it's still around!

Have a great Labor Day. =)

Joe M.