It’s been a boring first half of February…at least until today, with a wet snowstorm expected in the Columbia River Gorge.

Yesterday was a classic “late inversion season” day, not unlike an early-season day in October or early November. Fog formed in early morning, then slowly burned off under the marginal sun angle. The Willamette Valley and parts of Clark County didn’t break out until after 2 pm.  Temps only made the upper 40s/low 50s due to north/northesterly flow.  We would have been several degrees warmer, had there been (light) easterly flow not associated with a cold airmass.

Anyway…here are the charts for various cities for the first TWELVE days of February. First Portland:

Then Dallesport:

Then Vancouver WA:

Salem:

Redmond:

Finally Seatac:

Everyone is running warmer than normal, but areas along the 84/14 corridor are the warmest.  Why?  I can only guess that the lack of cool air in the Gorge may have played a role.

Moving on….this afternoon we have a system arriving from the southwest, and a puff of chilly air is arriving in the Gorge from the northeast. You know what that means…wet heavy snow is likely in the Gorge. Probably just a few inches at river level, but heavier totals at elevation (i.e. 1000′).  Some models have tried to bring snow into the Portland metro…but with temps in the mid 40s today, it’s definitely a long shot. Perhaps we see a few flakes late tonight into tomorrow morning?

The late-winter tease should be over by Friday, after lots of cold rain/slush in the western valleys.  This weekend we moderate back to the low 50s.

Mid to late next week there’s a chance that a “Jazz Festival High” (late February ridge) could develop over the PNW and SW Canada. Not set in stone yet, but here’s the 12z ECMWF for next Friday morning:

Keep in mind that by the last 7-10 days of February, it doesn’t take much ridging to push us to 60° if skies are clear. And if the ridge gets strong, things can REALLY warm up (65+).  We will just have to wait and see!

Karl