Flurries Tonight

Today we tied the coldest temp of the winter in Portland…18 this morning, and only have seen a high (so far) of 33 degrees.  That was also a record low MAXIMUM temperature for the date.  I also believe (but don’t have the numbers), that was the first time we’ve seen lows in the teens beyond Valentines Day since 1989…extremely rare.   That first March day in the 60s is going to feel REAL GOOD this year isn’t it?

A quick post because I’m actually taking a day off.  Some “snizzle” out there this afternoon and evening, mainly east Metro areas.  Sounds like light sleet (clinky), but also light snow too.

Models are doing real well as of 10pm.  Extremely limited moisture, and temps holding steady (or even rising in a few spots).  Dewpoints in some spots are gradually rising as well.  That should be the trend the rest of the night.  Temps hold between 32-35 in the lowest elevations, with an increasing chance for flurries towards the morning.  We’ll probably wake up with a dusting on the ground, but roads should only have a dusting too, or be just wet.  Soon after sunrise the increasing southwest wind will warm all areas below 1,500′ above freezing.  So still not a big snow event; I think the NWS is probably playing it safe with the Winter Weather Advisory…which is fine of course.  But it may be hard to get that 1″ due to the lack of moisture.  Our RPM has no signficant moisture (more than a few hundreths) until midday. 

Of course one thing models did terrible on was the cloud cover today…almost totally cloudy after 10am.  That kept high temps right around freezing.   In fact it’s kind of cool (meteorologically) that Hood River and The Dalles have had a gusty WEST wind, but temps still below freezing!  That’s because the usual warmer air source (west of the Cascades) is still real chilly.   Basically we’ve got a lot of cold/dry arctic air to moisten up the next 12 hours…but it’ll gradually occur.

A note to the “commenters”.  I’ve had several emails the last 24 hours about some “bullying” in the comments.  I don’t want to see that on here.  Whether it’s on video or text…don’t be harassing other weather geeks.  Each person has something to contribute (even Brian and his cold GFS numbers!), so I won’t tolerate one group picking on a single person.  And, unrelated, but apparently it needs to be repeated…don’t Drink and Blog!  Especially cross-continent.

Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen