We found sunshine over Portland! Unfortunately you have to travel up to around 1500′ to find it. This is the 2pm view from our tower cam at 1,800′. I was happy to see the sun up there at least. We’re timelapsing it right now and I’ll try to post the movie later. It’s always fun to see the movement in the low cloud layer; like watching someone stir a thick soup?
Temperatures in some Cascade locations have reached into the 60s today! Meanwhile, stuck below the inversion in the fog and low clouds we are having real trouble reaching towards 40.
There are hints we might see some clearing in spots the next 24 hours…the WRF-GFS pushes east wind out of the Gorge and into the east part of the metro area tomorrow. Interesting, I’ll blog again later.
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen
Currently 31.1
Fog level was at my level now has risen a couple hundred above me.
Hope Mark gets to see the link I posted earlier. Very pertinent to feelings here on the blog once in awhile
Told you so.
Hi all! Long time lurker here with a question for the weather guru’s. With this inversion layer messing up my weather-fu I can’t figure out what kind of low overnight temps I can expect at the 4,000 foot level. I want to go snow camping south of Oakridge and am not sure if it’s going to be 30 or 3? Anyone have some insight?
Hi fellow lurker! I have no idea about temps and such, but I’m impressed (and kinda jealous) that you’ll be snow camping. That sounds fun! I’d say be prepared for anything and everything.
Where did Crown Point go? Offline since 6:16.
Looks like it’s been off since yesterday morning. I don’t know why.
Don’t even look at the GFS 0z run. You’ll just get excited and then let down on the next run. Besides 9 days out is just a tease. Don’t look. Please.
Looks a little ridgy through the period except for two cool troughs that pass by quickly. January is done…nothing to write home about again.
Didnt look. Wont look. Despite mark’s comment, there is hope. There is always hope. If you guys are getting east wind, that probably means i get fog. Been enjoying the 50 degree days. Maybe it will stay locked north of tygh ridge
Mark, are you jumping? I hear Larry is stoking the grills already!
If the maps look like they do right now around February 8th, then I’ll jump.
Space Needle in the Fog
Space Needle pokes above a fog layer as seen from a plane coming into Sea-Tac Airport (Photo: YouNews contributor GBolt76)
http://media.komonews.com/images/528*660/130115_wxgal_needle_fog.jpg
That’s a really cool picture. Thanks ‘Poose (you in!).
Chip Kelly won’t mind leaving the Eugene fogversion….one is panning out to be a real bummer of a big ridge, could have been an element in tipping him over to leaving town. Going up Spencer Butte again tomorrow to get a glimpse of sun, 50 degree plus temps and dewpoint below zero
Since this weather pattern started the highs and lows at my station have been:
1/16 34/32
1/15 35/24
1/14 39/25
1/13 31/27
1/12 36/25
1/11 42/28
I had a great hike today! Temps ranged from 29 degrees up to 54…all bundled up at the bottom, and t-shirts and shorts at the top!
Mark will be using my pics again on the 10 PM weather cast if anyone is interested. I also took temps as I hiked today, the inversion was approximately 1,700-1,800′ deep.
At 1,700′ the temp was 29 with fog and heavy rime ice. By 1,900′, the temp was up in the upper 30s to low 40s and there was no ice at all (except melting snow).
At the summit, 2,400′, the temp was a balmy 54 with hardly any wind.
Nice. My brother and I are going steelhead fishing on the Alsea river tomorrow. Hopefully getting a breath of fresh Coast Range air!
Have any pics?
Yes, I’m just converting them to JPEG right now…it’s only 13% done though.
I’ll post a link ASAP.
I’ll post the link later today. For now, I’m off to work!
East wind has developed….. YES! This means I might get out of the muck overnight and be sunny tomorrow.
Even East wind here right now. Yes, the air is actually moving! A gust to all of 6mph in the last half hour if I dare say it! Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s the highest wind speed I’ve had since the 11th with a peak of a whopping 8mph.
Hey! I just had a gust of 1mph!!! The soup is simmering!
This has to be one of the strongest inversions I can ever remember!
Upper Sensor 48.7
Middle Sensor 29.8
Lower Sensor 30.7
A 19 degree difference in just 445 feet! Crazy folks. Insanely crazy craziness.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/tower_temps/tower_temps.php?&units=F
Sorry 345 feet… I can’t think super clearly right now.
Just could NOT resist….hope this works & hope it is ok
Wonder if this is how W7 & his neighbors would react?? j/k
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=316669671784860&set=p.316669671784860&type=1&ref=nf
Yup, you nailed it!
Wonderful YouTube video from Dec. 2008 (the last real decent snowfall we had in PDX): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NQE26y3yjE
What a great video! I love the snow weight on the cedars and Doug Firs. Just proves, every city looks better by a power of 10 with snow. And the more the better.
Made it to 34 today. The trees are completely white. I’m not sure if it’s leftover snow or if it’s freezing fog in the trees.
Interesting discussion on climate change: http://climaterealityproject.org/2013/01/16/the-face-of-climate-change-in-america/
And still funny that some people have JUST realized that climate changes…and always has.
Beautiful sunny day here in western NY! Temp was about 35dg so pretty nice fr around here. They’re saying highs of only 15 or so and lows near 0 into next week… a nice taste of true winter!
beautiful day up here and cold, pretty funny to drive a mere 100 feet or so down the road and get back into fog/low clouds. I thought for sure we would be close to 40 today with all the talk of a warm-up and the sun, ended up getting to 33* but it is already cooling off quick and back down to 31*
NWS/CPC are at least giving us hope that winter isn’t over yet, calling for a retrogression of the ridge and below normal temps day 8-14:
8-14 DAY OUTLOOK FOR JAN 24 – 30 2013
THE 6Z GFS AND 0Z ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEANS ALONG WITH THE HIGH-RESOLUTION 6Z GFS
MODEL INDICATE A RETROGRESSION OF THE WESTERN CONUS RIDGE TO THE NORTHEAST
PACIFIC. THE WESTWARD SHIFT OF THE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN
LOWER 500-HPA HEIGHTS ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS. AN UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH IS
EXPECTED TO PERSIST ACROSS THE HIGH LATITUDES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH AN
INCREASE IN 500-HPA HEIGHTS ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN CONUS. VERY LARGE SPREAD
AMONG THE 0Z GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS RESULTS IN NEAR AVERAGE 500-HPA HEIGHTS
FORECAST BY THE 0Z GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN ACROSS THE PACIFIC AND NORTH AMERICA.
THEREFORE, THE 0Z GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN WAS NOT USED IN CREATING THE 500-HPA BLEND
We shall see sounds like a sliver of hope.
8-14 days? I thought Rob said as soon as 7 days possibly?
Rob is the man, so I am sure he will give us his thoughts when he is ready. I think he was saying the pattern appears to be making a change around day 7, which is the “start” of a change. We then see what pattern we end up with after 7 days, and the new pattern would start showing in 8-14 days +/-.
Winter over? Come on, we had a mild November and December and are just halfway into January.
Visibility, right now, on NW Skyline between Germantown & Cornell is 50′ – SCARY in “daylight”, I WOULD NOT drive it at night. This despite living up here for 27 years. I’ve never seen it this thick outside of a soup bowl.
Curious – where those towers are located?
Portland West Hills, between Council Crest and Skyline.
Classic inversion graph for the tower temps. Check it out!
Yes!
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/tower_temps/tower_temps.php?&units=F
What could be worse than fog? How about two Mondays as a showing on the seven-day. Well, Groundhog Day is just around the corner. All we need now is Bill Murray.
I’m not sure what’s better, Sunday when my low was 27 and the high was 29 or today when my low was 32 and the high is 34. I guess Sunday since we had frosty trees. This just sucks cold eggs.
I just looked at Trip check. It’s 54 in Sisters, 53 on Santiam pass and 55 at Newport.
It’s about time… Now, can we get it to lower all the way below ground so we can get some sunshine down in here? Sheesh!
Hey Mark, I was looking for it the other day to no avail, is there a live link to that tower cam shot?
Plenty of sun to your north in Seattle today. Morning fog is long gone.
That’s nice. Doesn’t do us down here any good, but thanks for sharing? o_O
A cold, bleak, grey, very wintry day in PDX–
fake or not–today for sure. Hopeful signs
now are filtering in–in upstream models too
starting next week. Reason for optimism.
Winter is a LONG way from over!
I don’t think it is online.
Well darnit, Mark! Any way we could weasel it online? Maybe a hidden stream to your webpage?? I’d love to watch sunrises from up there!
Who’s on first?
You in! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
What’s on 2nd?
W7′s on most.
I’m out!
Aww, you’re sweet… Don’t be jealous, Germie!
58 degrees @ Yaquina Bay bridge?!?! This is B.S., I’m getting robbed here of some sunshine! Never thought I would root for a serious East wind…………
You in!
I’m in sweetheart, I’m in, & this may be the being of the end with 2 Mondays on the 7 day! Also with rain now forecasted at the end = NO SUN @ ALL!! If winter wasn’t almost over I’d really flip out!
Nice quick fix……..