El Niño to collapse by summer, La Niña forecast fall and winter 2024-25

Strong El Niño conditions were observed over the winter of 2023-24, leading to long lasting periods of split flow in the jet stream aimed at Western North America. This is a typical El Niño pattern, where the northern split persistently aims storms at southeast Alaska and the southern branch aims at California. Despite this, Oregon […]

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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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Snow and freezing rain forecast in the Columbia Basin, Yakima Valley starting Tuesday night

The next Pacific storm is forecast to start bringing precipitation to the Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley late in the day Tuesday. A few light snow showers are possible as early as 17:00 but the main show begins later in the evening for Yakima and overnight in the Tri-Cities. The first band of snow, associated […]

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Warmup coming to Portland and WIllamette Valley after freezing rain Tuesday night

Ice accumulation on tree branches. (Laslovarga/Wikimedia Commons)

Temperatures in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington remained below freezing Sunday after a cold front and low pressure system brought snow and damaging winds to the region. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that three people died in the Portland metro area as a result of cold temperatures and falling trees. Over 200,000 customers are reported by […]

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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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Frigid temps for the Inland Northwest, heavy snow possible in Northeast Oregon

An arctic cold front moving southwestward across the Columbia Basin is bringing a plunge in temperatures. When it passed through Moses Lake on Thursday afternoon, the temperature dropped from 32°F (0°C) at 13:45 to 21°F (-6°C) at 15:30. From there temperatures continued to slowly drop to reach 18°F (-8°C) by 18:30. The cold front reached […]

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Winter weather advisory for Portland metro as compact low moves through

A compact low pressure system embedded within the regional flow pattern is forecast to track near the Portland metro to produce heavy precipitation Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory from 22:00 Tuesday to 06:00 Wednesday. In the advisory, the National Weather Service […]

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Blizzard warning for the Cascades, wind alerts for Columbia Basin

A strong low pressure system and associated frontal boundaries are forecast to approach the Pacific Northwest from the northwest producing heavy precipitation and windy conditions throughout the region. Travel is expected to be difficult Monday evening through Wednesday with Cascade and Blue Mountain highways possibly being impassible at times. This system has prompted National Weather […]

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Christmas winter weather advisory for the Tri-Cities and Yakima

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley from 10:00 Monday to 10:00 Tuesday. The Cascade Mountains also have an alert posted, but Walla Walla was left out of the advisory area. Light precipitation is forecast to spread from west to east across Eastern Washington and […]

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Flood watch for Portland metro as Pineapple Express takes aim

A prolonged period of wet weather has begun in the Pacific Northwest to kick off meteorological winter. For most, rain started Thursday and the east wind coming through the Columbia Gorge was cold enough to allow slushy snowflakes to briefly mix in with the rain in parts of Northeast Portland. Additional rainmakers are forecast to […]

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