Atmospheric river to bring rain, cooler temperatures to the Columbia Basin

The first atmospheric river event of the season is taking aim for the Pacific Northwest, bringing widespread rain to the region beginning on the coast Tuesday night and spreading inland to moisten the ground in the Tri-Cities Wednesday night. It will be backed by a cold front spawned by a low pressure system that will […]

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Relief on the way with cooler temperatures starting Wednesday

The heat wave that is gripping the Columbia Basin will draw to a close over the next day or so. The upper-level ridge of high pressure influencing the pattern over the Inland Northwest will start moving to the east, allowing a trough located offshore to migrate closer to the Pacific Northwest. With the approach of […]

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False fall drawing to a close; highs above 105° expected

A ridge of high pressure will build over the next couple days, bringing a steady climb to high temperatures across the Columbia Basin for the remainder of the week. Current indications are that highs will reach their peak Sunday with highs at or above 105°. The warmest locations will be in the lower elevations, such […]

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New high temperature records Thursday as heat wave continues

On Thursday afternoon, the Tri-Cities Airport reached 110° for the first time in five years, but it didn’t stop there. Preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows the airport in Pasco reached a high of 111°, solidly beating the old record for July 30 which was 107° set in 2003. The Tri-Cities aren’t the […]

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Highs around 110° for the Columbia Basin

High pressure will remain in place over the region through Friday. This coupled with southerly flow thanks to a deepening low in the Pacific will amplify already hot temperatures in the Inland Northwest, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an excessive heat warning for the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. This warning goes into effect […]

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Enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms for the Tri-Cities Saturday

The cover photo was taken by Dennis Brown during Saturday morning’s storm. Thanks for sharing, Dennis! Information in this post is accurate as of 8:00 am PDT Saturday. The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded much of Eastern Washington and Oregon to be in an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms Saturday. This is for areas to […]

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Unsettled weather for the first half of the week

There is a chance of showers for the Tri-Cities in place through Wednesday thanks to a deep low pressure system that is lazily moving across the Western United States. Rain chances drop off significantly Sunday night, but we can expect to see periodic light rain and drizzle for the next several days. The presence of […]

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Marginal risk for severe thunderstorms in parts of the Columbia Basin Sunday

The Storm Prediction Center has placed parts of the region under a marginal risk for severe thunderstorms on Sunday. For the Columbia Basin, this includes areas that are along and east of a line stretching from Condon and Irrigon north to the Tri-Cities and Othello. More broadly speaking, it also encompasses most of northeastern Oregon, […]

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Tornado climatology of the Columbia Basin

This post focuses on tornado statistics in the Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin. For specific details about the Richland tornado that happened on March 31, head over to this AgWeatherNet article that I contributed to. Tornadoes are a rare occurrence in the Columbia Basin, but they aren’t unheard of. This is something that we were reminded […]

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Mostly sunny skies to end the work week, breezy conditions possible this weekend

A ridge of high pressure in place over the region is providing pleasant weather conditions for the second half of this week. Wednesday will probably be the day with the most clouds. This is thanks to northwest flow aloft, sending some high clouds streaming across the region. Some light rain showers associated with this pattern […]

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