7pm Friday…
It was nice to see snowflakes this morning. I was driving through Gresham taking care of errands and it was dumping snow…at 37 degrees around 11am. By the time I got home at 1,000′ there was maybe 1/4 to 1/2″ on the ground. Then showers tapered off; exciting while it lasted. By the way, in my “Winter is Over” blog post three weeks ago I mentioned this setup. It can still happen this late in the season
Tomorrow more of us will see sticking snow during the morning hours. Even some low elevation spots could see enough for some quick sledding (1″ or so…low standards in Portland). Others? Wake up to nothing. No matter what happens the first half of the day, the 2nd half will be like today. Partly to mostly cloudy with temperatures reaching the low-mid 40s.
We don’t expect any sort of widespread “life-altering” snowfall west of the Cascades in the I-5 corridor tomorrow. This is the forecast graphic I’m using this evening:
Why such a wide range? Zero to 2″???? There’s good reason for that. We’re talking scattered showers late tonight through about noon tomorrow. If you are under a heavy shower, an inch could suddenly accumulate. If those heavy showers miss you? Little or nothing accumulates. For Example: In this pattern, someone that gets dumped on near the Columbia River (~ sea level) could get an inch or two. But another location up around 1,000′ that misses out on the showers gets only a trace! It’s not just about elevation. That said, colder temps up in the hills do give a better chance for “sleddable” snow there.
Technical Talk
Colder and very dry air is surging south through eastern Washington this evening; by sunrise it should be pouring out of the Gorge and into the metro area. That airmass has Even though temps with this will probably be up around 36-40 degrees, any precipitation falling into the very dry airmass will bring temps down to near freezing. That’s the 2nd reason we have a better chance for sticking snow tomorrow morning along with precipitation intensity.
Models are looking a bit more consistent this evening. Most giving us very light snowfall, only a trace to 1″ generally.
So in the end I think this will be another “non-event” like what we saw Thanksgiving Weekend, mid-January, and early February. Just a little here and there.
We do have some fantastic early spring weather coming back for early next week. Check out the high temperature forecast for Portland. Some nice stuff ahead…get outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen
If it ain’t worth sleddin, it’s worth forgettin.
3.5 inches at about 300ft in east Vancouver (just west of Camp Bonneville)
43 degrees in Kamiah, Id, no snow here just a light dusting on the hilltops.17 degrees in Spokane as of noon, What a difference several hundred miles makes!
Looks like the end of the steady snow soon. 4″ here at 1000′! That”s because I took off the winter tires on Tuesday….
Where’s your fork Mark lmao
Well, that was fun! Snowed heavily for nearly 2 hours here at 350ft (not sticking on any pavement due to INTENSE March sun). I went up to the West Hills and there were at least 2-3 inches up there at ~1000ft, sticking to roads and everything!
VERY heavy snow in Happy Valley. Sticking to everything at 400’.
Snowing hard and sticking to the tarmac at PDX, about an inch on the ground. They’re deicing planes at the moment.
Almost an hour delayed already, should be off soon.
And this is a first for me!
Good time to travel lololol. Way to contribute to the greater good.
Great experience Erik! Very cool!
i should not have said to God, “turn off the rain spicket “lol.snowing pretty good here..
It is melting off the road as I type this but, it still is snowing, I would love to post the picture, but the system won’t let me.
Snow covering everything here in West Minehaha (Vancouver, WA), including the roads. Has been snowing continuously for several hours and is still coming down.
Moderate snow and 32.5’ here in inner SWPDX at 200’. Just starting to cover! Enjoy!
(This post may be redundant. Previous didn’t go through.)
Moderate snow and 32.5’ here at 200’ in inner SWPDX. Just starting to cover. Heading out to hike in the Gorge. Woo Hoo! Enjoy the day fellow Bloggers!
More snow on the ground (though actually still somewhat patchy) and not on roads, than I have seen this entire year. All snow at my place.
Just like clockwork. When an event is forecast on the GFS mid range everyone jumps in and chimes then when the event is happening or downgraded but still happening (regardless if the GFS was garbage which it usually is) nobody posts!
I hope Mark isn’t on a deletion spree (Unless it’s stupid non weather BS being posted)
Meh. The air to the east of us seems to be too warm to support snow in Portland, even with evaporative cooling. Hope I’m wrong!
Aaaaaaand… you were wrong.
Win-win for me! Was not expecting that! Shows you how low placement is pretty much everything when it comes to snow in portland.
Nice Fraser Outflow windstorm in Bellingham tonight. Forecast is for gusts to 60 mph. Bet it’s the last one of this season. No snow here; we’re squarely on the cold and dry side of things.
No snow here either, just wind. It was strange to see icicles on the gutter this morning- not big ones, and they’re likely to melt quickly once the March sun hits them, but there they were!
Should be a good weekend to head up and Ski or Snowboard.
Looks to me like most of the metro area will only see another .05’’ – .20’’ of total precipitation. Hard to get excited about.
0.22″ in the bucket at 4am, no idea how much since, but that’s when it switched over to all snow.
FML… 😥
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
809 PM PDT FRI MAR 13 2020
• WHAT:Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of up to two inches.
• WHERE: In Washington, Greater Vancouver Area and Western Columbia River Gorge.
In Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Area and Western Columbia River Gorge.
• WHEN…From 3 AM to noon PDT Saturday.
• IMPACTS…Plan on slippery road conditions.
https://inws.ncep.noaa.gov/a/a.php?i=43494766
Magic 8 Ball answer I expect is: “Don’t count on it”.
Bring on Fall/Winter 20/21.