BLI snowman

Their low was only 2 degrees away from the record high.

Snow at 14,000 feet in February!? Surely you jest!

Definitely vital for you. A month that isn't one of the warmest on record down there would help immensely.

We have. Yet you persist. Let me know when their drought gets conquered. 80 degree death ridge incoming for Shasta Lake next week. Evaporation time!

Drought? What drought!?

They should move Portland's official weather records office to the Applebee's on Mill Plain. That way they'd have some accumulations to show for this year.

AGW clearly at work there.

February is definitely on record monthly warmth watch after a particularly toasty suite of 12z runs. 60/53 at BLI yesterday. Our climate's going to Disneyland!

Not my point. Getting only 2 or 3" of snow probably still wouldn't sit well with most of us, but it would certainly have made for a slightly more interesting year!

Nah, I'd say more like Veracruz, Mexico.

Portland probably gets sticking snow on November 13, FWIW.

....Thanks (jackhammer noise). :> Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. General cold air more broadside top heavy. 242, Alabama right. Hike.

That's great, leastwise I'll take it under advisement more north as soon as you comprehend my point. "Quack".

We're going in circles here. Yes, rainfall helps. No, it won't change the long term outlook too much.

It's simply not accurate to act like what is shaping up down there next week will make a significant long term dent in the drought assuming the overriding snow trends continue. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/California-Drought-Snowfall-Snow-Rain-Precipitation-Sierra-Nevada-290916671.html Pretty much sums things up. Short term relief for the water levels, but long term dry season water issues are the most worrisome and vital.

Obviously. But it won't get you very far if the next few months stay warm and snowless.

It's actually about looking at the bigger picture. You seem to have a pretty myopic view of how drought relief works. Come May, these rains won't mean much if the mountain snowpack is at historically low levels.

Improved? From catastrophic drought to exceptionally awful one? Okay.... Much of the state is still in exceptional drought. The wettest areas next week are also the furthest north/least drought afflicted. The Sierra snowpack is critical for a lot of the state going forward, and it continues to suck. It is what it is.

It'll have about the same long term impact as the big warm and heavy rain events in December down there. Fairly minimal. Without snow in the mountains now, their margin for error these next few months is minimal. Most likely, severe drought will continue.

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/water/westwide/snowpack/wy2015/snow1502.gif Can you find me some years with I'll let you do the research on this one, since you were so keen on it with regards to Lake Tahoe's January temps.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ Long term relief.... you're going to see water supply fluctuations in the next few weeks but no snow in the mountains.

Um, long lasting snowpack provides way more relief than these often brief, localized, and extreme downpours do. Sorry, but CA's reservoirs will continue to suffer. Short term runoff notwithstanding, there's little snow on the way for them and it's been a record bad year for them. Localized flooding and mudslides will happen no doubt, but they won't see long term drought relief. As for the PNW, I have no idea how you can look at the models right now and consider this a noteworthy event for us. 1-3" of rain in the lowlands and some 40-50mph wind gusts in spots. Pretty routine.

You're going to continue to suffer from drought for the foreseeable future. Sorry sweetie.

Weren't you the one who was hyping up the early January rainfall as some kind of major event for us? For all intents and purposes, this will have the same impact for the PNW. This week is not dramatically different at all for us. And no, a few inches of warm rain won't provide any serious drought relief down there. They need way more storms first of all, and they need something in the way of snowfall to have lasting consequences for the reservoirs. January was another record dry month for Northern CA and their drought is as bad as ever. Even the PNW will be looking at water shortages this summer if the pitiful snow season continues. In spite of normal rainfall for most stations, it's been way too warm. A warm, dry spring would be pretty ugly for our water supply.

January was overwhelmingly dry, but there were two brief interludes with warm heavy rain events. December had that as well. This is a pretty standard ugly pattern for us, and impressively wet down south. Unfortunately, this won't provide much of any drought relief for CA. It will temporarily help lowland farmers, but they need an extreme amount of snow in the Sierras at this point and they won't be getting any in the upcoming pineapple juice pattern.