Karl's Weather Discussions

Last week was a very interesting pattern, given the season.  We had a full week of “Winter In April” weather – including a historic April snowstorm for Portland/Vancouver and temperatures more typical of late January or early February.  There was also an impressive number of thunder and hail storms across the region, probably the best outbreak in the time I have lived on the west side. There are several points that stick out here:  Snow.  The Monday morning snowstorm was,…

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Wow!  After an incredible 79-degree afternoon Thursday (75 at PDX), we have flipped the seasonal switch, going from June to February in just three days. Today’s high of 46 at PDX was the coldest April day in 19 years…and we have more of the same for most of the upcoming week! As I write this at 9pm Sunday, it’s 36 in Orchards with a steady light rain falling.  The air smells like winter and it just has the vibe of…

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In the Pacific Northwest, springtime is generally the time of year with the greatest day-to-day variability in our high temperatures.  While the daily normal high temps rise only gradually between April and early June, there is a wider range of temps possible on any given day. (In fall the reverse is true: average temps drop off rapidly, though there isn’t typically a huge deviation from the seasonal norm.) The next few days we are going to see both sides of the spring weather coin. …

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Whew, March 2022 in the Portland Metro was a boring month, climatologically speaking!  Temperatures were just slightly  (1.5 deg. F) above the 30-year normal, and rainfall was nearly an inch below normal.  If you take the assumption that our climate is “supposed” to be gradually warming, you could argue that it was about as normal of a March as we can get in the 3rd decade of the 21st century.  The first 70-degree day at PDX occurred on March 27,…

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