10:15pm…
Wow, sheets of rain at the coast the past few hours. Rainfall rates up to 1/2″ per hour! Astoria is quickly approaching 2″ for the day.
Here in the valley the rain has been steady on the west side of the metro area but very light eastside.
That will change between now and 2am as a very moist frontal zone moves inland. This is not a typical cool-season front. Precipitable water, a measure of moisture available in the atmosphere, is quite high. We’ve got a subtropical flow of air over us for the next 8-12 hours. Warm air can hold a lot of moisture!
Models are insistent on not producing those coastal totals here in the valleys, even though the flow is from the south and not subject to the usual Coast Range rain shadow. We’ll see, hopefully we don’t end up with 1-1.50″ in the valleys or that will be a forecast bust.
Enjoy the sounds of the rain falling overnight, our gardens and yards REALLY need it.
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen