Warm and sunny pattern to break down, Pacific Northwest returning to cool rain

Tuesday is likely to be the warmest day of this weather pattern for the Columbia Basin with the Tri-Cities reaching into the upper-70s (26°C). Temperatures in some areas west of the Cascades peaked on Monday. Portland recorded a high of 77°F (25°C), a new record for March 18, while Seattle peaked a few days ago. […]

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Strong ridge to develop over the Northwest, sunny skies and warm temps forecast

Leftover moisture and cold air aloft will be enough for scattered showers and isolated t-storms throughout the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday. These storms will be more widespread along and west of the Cascades and some may produce small hail and/or graupel. The Columbia Gorge, Hermiston, and the Tri-Cities will be breezy Tuesday into Wednesday as […]

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Third cold front in a row to pass through Pacific Northwest on Monday

The third system in a train that started late last week is forecast to reach the Pacific Northwest during the day Monday. High clouds from this are already reaching the Interstate 5 corridor as of 07:00. Rainfall totals through Tuesday reaching half an inch (10 mm) are forecast for Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver with higher […]

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Next train of storms approaches Pacific Northwest, rain and mountain snow this weekend

Much of the Northwest is enjoying a break in precipitation after persistent regional storms and post-frontal showers. A low pressure system heading for Alaska will bring that to an end from north to south with the first of several cold fronts moving in. Rain and mountain snow from this begins during the day Thursday for […]

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Pacific Northwest snowpack improves at the start of March after week of snow

A prolonged pattern of upper level troughing and repeated regional storm systems have added quite a bit of snow to mountains of the Pacific Northwest over the past week. As of the end of the day on March 4, the snow-water equivalent (SWE) value for the Northwest was 88% of the median for this time […]

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Flow turning NW’ly for Pacific Northwest bringing cooler temps & mountain snow

Seasonally warm temperatures being observed in the Pacific Northwest Friday and Saturday will draw to a close on Sunday when an upper level trough is forecast to turn the upper level wind pattern more northwesterly over the region. As a result, cooler air sourced from the Gulf of Alaska will come in for a return […]

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Winter storm weekend for Portland metro and Willamette Valley

Arctic air diving south out of Canada on Friday and a low pressure system making landfall on the Oregon Coast Saturday will create a dynamic weather pattern through the weekend in the Pacific Northwest. As a result, numerous winter weather alerts from the National Weather Service have been posted for Western Oregon and Southwest Washington […]

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Hurricane-force storm in Alaska to bring rain and mountain snow to most of the West Coast

A rapidly intensifying low pressure system is moving north through the Gulf of Alaska on Wednesday afternoon. It is forecast to make landfall on or near Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula early Thursday morning. Off the coast of Alaska, hurricane-force winds are forecast to extend eastward from the Kenai Peninsula toward the southeastern portion of the state. […]

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Cool and wet weather returning to the Northwest this weekend

Ridging over the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday along with a strong low in the Gulf of Alaska are driving mostly sunny and seasonably warm conditions in the Portland area. Meanwhile to the north, a Pineapple Express has been aiming at Vancouver Island, producing up to 200 mm (8 inches) of rain. This Pineapple Express is […]

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Seattle and Portland observe warmest first half of fall on record

Credit: Shutterstock/VladisChern

Note: This article is using the meteorological definition for fall, which is September 1 to November 30. The first half of meteorological fall is September 1 to October 15. The weather pattern over the Western United States has been dominated by persistent upper level ridging for several weeks, leading to above average temperatures and below […]

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