I will be posting very little (or not at all) the next 8 days. It’s Spring Break time in Oregon and I’m taking a vacation with the family through Saturday April 1st.
I’ll be back at work on Sunday the 2nd. Maybe there will be some sort of upper-level ridging showing up with some 60s/70s in sight? One can hope…
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen
2500′ snowlevel next Sunday, the cool weather continues.
Spring Break is over and the dry weather arrives….
National Weather Service Portland OR
302 AM PDT Sat Apr 1 2017
.SYNOPSIS…No April Fools joke. Rain returns today.
Well, warmer rain ahead 🙂
March ends with 7.69 in the rain Bucket. February and March combined is 21.98 inches. About 3 times the average amount. April looks a lot better. Peace
Could see some rain late tonight before March officially ends- whatever! It won’t change the fact that this will be my second wettest March on record, and probably the dullest as far as hours of bright sunshine go. I saw a high of 59F here yesterday, and that’ll be the warmest temperature of the month.
10.52 inches of precipitation in the gauge for March. This includes about 4 inches of snow melted down. Today is basically a continuation of March: low clouds with rain and drizzle in the morning. I see some slow clearing occurring this afternoon.
59 here yesterday, too. So by a degree March has come and gone and I have yet to see a reading in the 60s this year. I’ve been too lazy to keep a rain total the past month.
83 in New Orleans yesterday as I enjoyed a rose with my wife and locals at ‘Swirl’ a local wine bar. 43 at 10 this am in Oregon City.
Headed there next month. Any must sees/eats?
‘Cochon’ restaurant has everything from fried alligator to fried oysters. (on Tchoupitoulas St.)
Nice hiking at the Bayou Coquille Trail south of town. We saw a few alligators. By the time you get there it will be mating season.
There should be lots of gator activity!
Last year on this date; Sunny skies and a high of 74F here. This year? Well, we have sunny skies at least, but i doubt we’ll reach 60F.
For what it’s worth, it hasn’t rained much over here.
GOT RAIN
Looks like 2″ of rain possible before months end… enjoy everyone!
CPC has 50% probability of above average precipitation out to 14 days. I don’t see any arks being built yet just big mansions.
This rainy weather is downright awful; I’m saying this even though I’ve lived in the PNW all my life. Over an inch of rain here already this morning and more to come through today and overnight. March 2017, go away, please!!
Oh, I hear you. I thought 2011 was pretty bad, but this year really has been truly terrible. I recall how warm the first 70 degree day of 2011 (April 1) felt after a chilly, wet winter. It’s going to be so much nicer this spring, with no 70 degree weather in sight.
I have waiting for 2011 comparisons to come out. Could it be 2.5 months of summer again!!! I thought that was a record that could not be broken!!! I am in Tampa today 80 degrees heading over to Clearwater for a lunch meeting overlooking the gulf. Great weather!
Thanks, Dallin- I appreciate the sympathy. I’m really in a bad mood because of this weather. I’ll brighten up as soon as I see a day without rain! Meanwhile my current amount for the month up to 11am today: 10.37 inches.
Hey , the sun is out now- or at least it was briefly through some gaps in the cloud cover. Anyway, the rain has stopped. That’s the most important thing.
Timberline is back up to 185″ base…woohoo!!! This will extend the season into the end of May, but your spring passes now!
With those advertising skills they should pay you to do it!
Hey Mark, when you get back can you explain why the flood watch on the Columbia River (currently 1.5 feet above FS) is affecting 198k people?! How can it affect that many people when it is just flooding the river bank and parks? Please explain. thxs
Up to 7.25 inches of rain now for March. We are now almost 20 inches above average for our water year. With the grounds saturated and the rivers high already imagine what a week of 70+highs and a fzl of over 10k will do. Peace..
Yeah went to the Columbia river gorge to do some hiking this weekend. My goodness. If any of you get the chance. Go. There are waterfalls I didn’t even know existed driving down I-84 (stay in the slow lane). Incredible to see with the fog and the mist 4 or 5 waterfalls on the face of just one cliff.
Looking increasingly like I won’t see any 60+ temperatures this year until sometime in April.
Probably won’t see 70 F until late April or early May.
JJ78259, I sometimes wonder if you get any serious weather there at your location: You know, tornadoes, big hailstones, rain ect. Given that you live in Texas, you must see something other than blue skies and 90 degrees on occasion, right? 🙂
He certainly does see extreme weather now and then. Any place east of the Rockies is bound to have some gnarly weather, whether it be (depending on location) hail, tornadoes, tropical storms, extreme cold/heat, blizzards, etc.
Just got back from a few days in Coronado and then a week in Phoenix to watch the Beavers destroy ASU in baseball. Warm enough in that part of the country (Phoenix), but we also had 2-3 days of record heat for March. That translated to 94-96 deg those days and low 90’s the rest. Glad we were in shade for the games! I wasn’t ready for the dry air either, which required plenty of liquid refreshments and treatment of dry skin. I guess they get used to it down there over time.
Nice to see you are avoiding the rain!
4 days in Vegas next week followed by 2 weeks in Hawaii the end of April…. not waiting for the sun around here anymore.
Sometimes you got get out of Portland to catch the sun. We may catch our first 90 degree day of the new year today! Just grabbed a Corona heading to the pool have a great day!
Yeah, we are seriously considering a move to a sunnier location because we are the type of family that thrives off the warm sun and being outside.
Don’t get me wrong the Northwest is beautiful and I never thought I would move ever but when I turned about 50 traveling the country and felt that warm weather that could be had in other places. I had an opportunity to join a company actually one of my previous clients I jumped at the chance to move. 2011 was the final straw for me. My mood and overall being has improved greatly with the ability to enjoy the warmer climate.
Spring skiing??? Yesterday was winter skiing. Deep powder in the trees and nice carvable runs. The lower mountain had a hard crust layer from the recent rain and less fresh snow. Largest crowd I’ve seen all winter, so at least there are a lot of winter enthusiasts here left in Oregon.
Skiing keeps a person from going nuts in Portlands long wet winter.
No Mark we can’t hope. All pf our hopes have been dashed. However It is logical to assume that the weather will turn nicer sometime. So maybe April will be nicer than March. 6.65 Inches of rain so far in March. Somewhere between 8 and 9 inches are likely before months end. We are over 19 inches above average since October 1st. Peace.
Dan that is a lot rain. At least you had 2 or 3 drier years in the past to bank on. It is just one of those lousy years for weather.
I wonder how high the Willamette will rise before it finally returns to normal. Yesterday I was astounded by the river level as I walked down the waterfront and crossed the Steel Bridge. The river looked to be within ten feet of the Steel Bridge’s lower deck.
It never fails. Mark leaves and a weak tornado hits. 😀
Hmm, maybe our climate is tempered by Mark’s presence. If he died or moved across the country, we’d probably enjoy some genuinely extreme weather. If he died/moved away this summer, this is how the next three years could play out:
Winters 2017-18, 2018-19: 50+ inches of snow, 25 days+ below freezing, several subzero nights. A frozen Willamette river downtown.
2018, 2019: No 60+ temps until the middle of April, no 70+ temps until May, no 80+ temps until late June, no 90+ temps, 2x amount of rain each month. No 70+temps after Labor Day.
Winter 2019-20: No snow, no frost until February (or not at all) Less than 1/2 normal rainfall. No snow at Govy after April 30. Lots of 60+ days all winter and even a 70+ day or two in both Dec and Feb.
2020: First 80+temp in March, first 90+ in April, first 100+ in May. Over 12 100+ days throughout the year, maybe even one day of 110+. Over 60 60+ nights, and a handful of 70+ nights (maybe even 80+ one or two nights). No lows below 50 all summer. No rain from middle of June through October except for a few freakish t-storms in July and August. October ends with a storm surpassing the Columbus Day Storm.
Clearing skies here this morning after showers. I don’t think we’ll set a record for rainiest March ever,(that one was set in 2007 with over 11 inches) but there is a chance this one could see the fewest days without rain. The record is 3 (set in March 2003). So far this month I have 2, and time is starting to run out.
Mark, since you’ll be on vacation, this means we will have a foot of thunder snow followed by 75 degrees and sunny. Don’t forget the sunscreen if you’re headed to the warmth! Enjoy!
Up to another 2′ of snow for Timberline by Tuesday. By Sunday they should pass the 500″ mark for the season. Still behind last years El Niño, I think they made it to 550-560″ for the season.
True, but not as much down low at Government camp. I think we would both want the same type of winter in the mountains. I would love it so snowy that by Labor Day, skibowl gives up opening the Alpine slide because they still have at least 6 feet of snow at their base. I would love to see 100 feet on the ground at timberline by April first.
Finally, visual confirmation of The Dome over Milwaukie!! It’s back, and it’s double reinforced, apparently…
Well, I guess it’s confirmed that Groening based Springfield on Milwaukie.
OMG, Erik! That is hilarious. Is that a real picture that you took? It’s beautiful either way. I know I’m late on the draw in responding to this, but damn …
Yes, absolutely that’s a real picture. I took that standing next to the street right in front of my house. Most intense complete (double) rainbow I’ve ever seen.
Amazing.
Have a great vacation !
Getting some nice strong showers up this way this afternoon. So far no thunder or lightning here.
Strong thunderstorm with decent sized hail and a solid rotation sig on radar just moved over Vancouver. Radar images to follow…
Some minor damage in the North Vancouver/Orchards area. NWS sending a team to investigate.
NWS confirms EF-0 tornado.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=pqr&pil=LSR&sid=PQR&version=0
Yeah, I like how they issued an alert for it about 3 hours after the fact…
https://inws.ncep.noaa.gov/a/a.php?i=10708235
😂😂😂
Woo-Hoo! I survived the Orchards/Covington Tornado of 2017!
It woke me up at 3:30 (I work nights) when it hit my house on 102nd. Knocked over most of my neighbor’s fence, knocked over my back yard swing and tore a branch out of my birch tree as thick as my arm. Pretty loud when it hit. Two of my kids were home and they ran around all jubilant like little weather geeks!
Enjoy!
Vacation? I work outdoors and now I have to rely on Carsons forecasts that are 85% wrong for the day and change every day from the previous days weekly forecast. OK… Have a great time anyway! 😛
Steve B.
Have a great Spring Break Mark!!!!
84-85 and Sunny this weekend looking forward to the nice weather!🔆