January 2019 Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[BLI snowman]

I think it will come in early February.

 

Pretty unlikely. February is usually the warmest month of all in these types of winters. 

[jcmcgaffey]

40s at the stations with no wind.

. You’re right about the east wind. I was just following up on it saying that it looks to be going over the top of the lower valley areas where the cold is trapped. I guess the cold air is there and trapped because it is sheltered from the east wind.

[FroYoBro]

Down to 43 here. BRRRRRRR. #winter

[HighlandExperience]

And lots of homes at higher elevations that are close enough to commute to Eugene, Salem, or Portland.

 

And the West Valley gets more snow than Seattle I would guess.

What are good communities down there you recommend at higher elevation within driving distance of Portland.

[Requiem]

Redding is in Northern California, hundreds of miles north of LA, which is in So Cal. It’s a long state.

 

SoCal is primed for 5-8 inches of rain (conservatively) through the end of this upcoming week. Don't worry, I know Redding isn't in SoCal.

[MossMan]

The 6z is going to be epic!

[TigerWoodsLibido]

[TigerWoodsLibido]

SoCal is primed for 5-8 inches of rain (conservatively) through the end of this upcoming week. Don't worry, I know Redding isn't in SoCal.

I feel like the “border” between north and south Cali is the line from the northern border of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino Counties on south.

[TigerWoodsLibido]

35 in Springfield & foggy. Doubt we hit freezing but it’ll be close.

[BLI snowman]

What are good communities down there you recommend at higher elevation within driving distance of Portland.

 

Vernonia, Sandy, Yacolt

[Blizzard777]

34* and no wind

[Tyler Mode]

31 degrees.  Just my third freeze this year.  24th for the season.

[FroYoBro]

Got all the way down to 42 under clear skies. 

[ShawniganLake]

Pattern wise, I suspect (if it succeeds) it will resemble November 2014 out there. If it fails, then it probably takes the February 2015 route.

 

They’re structurally similar, but the minor differences can make all the difference in the world.

Yikes. 2015 was a torch fest.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

32 under clear skies. Looks like most valley locales hit freezing.

[Omegaraptor]

 

 

Bluebird day on Hood with an inversion in Central Oregon. Technically not a complete bluebird but it’s the PNW, this counts.

[TT-SEA]

All the way down to 46 at SEA.. still 51 here at dawn.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

All the way down to 46 at SEA.. still 51 here at dawn.

 

Mega torch day up there. Temps in the WV will probably end up near normal today. SLE only had a +3 departure yesterday. It really only ended up a 1-2 day torch down here. 

[Jesse]

Frosty morning with a nice sunrise.

[TT-SEA]

Mega torch day up there. Temps in the WV will probably end up near normal today. SLE only had a +3 departure yesterday. It really only ended up a 1-2 day torch down here.

SEA was 61/44 yesterday for a +11.

 

Running +4.1 on the month.

 

And the coldest temp of the winter there has been 31 on one night. It has not been below freezing there for 38 consecutive days now through the coldest part of the year.

[FroYoBro]

PDX went from 34 up to 42 in the last hour.

 

 

We are screwed.

[Omegaraptor]

PDX went from 34 up to 42 in the last hour.

We are screwed.

We’re not going to torch so long as those easterlies keep coming.

[Jesse]

PDX went from 34 up to 42 in the last hour.

 

 

We are screwed.

Gorge winds are the bane of the winter weather enthusiast.

[Jesse]

Looks like a low of 31 here.

[Blizzard777]

32* and still

[Jesse]

30 at BLI currently, 38 at SEA, 30 at OLM. I figured most of western Wa would still be in the 50s.

[TT-SEA]

Wow... SEA dropped fast at the 8 a.m. update. SE wind there all night just switched to S in the last hour.

 

It was in the 50s there for much of the night.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

PDX went from 34 up to 42 in the last hour.

 

 

We are screwed.

 

E Wind. I was shocked to see them at 34 this morning. They were still at 47 when I went to bed last night.

[Omegaraptor]

Washington County doesn’t get easterlies as hard as farther east. Two days ago it was 56 in Hillsboro and 50 in Portland.

[luvssnow_spokane]

It magically got cold her last night. ... shocked!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

12z running. In the mid-range it looks like the cold air is a little further away. Major shocker I know.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

The east wind is great at keeping PDX from torching in the winter and can bring in some real nice low level cold. Overall though I prefer not to be affected by them as it also works to keep PDX above freezing on quite a few nights.

[jcmcgaffey]

This map shows the east wind temp affect. Usually that temperature map is the opposite with colder air towards the mountains.

[TT-SEA]

Still 51 here and sort of breezy.

 

I would be fine with this warmth if I knew it was not going to get really cold later on.   If its going to get cold and snowy... I wish it would hurry up already.

 

This type of January torch followed by cold and snow later in February caused problems last year.   I swear the full leaf out last spring was stunted.   The trees were fooled and then punished.   The trees seemed less full than normal from the start last year and it certainly was not for a lack of rain... it was the wettest April ever here.

 

I would prefer to have cold and snow in the heart of winter...  or at least don't torch in the heart of winter and then turn really cold later.  

[Jesse]

The east wind is great at keeping PDX from torching in the winter and can bring in some real nice low level cold. Overall though I prefer not to be affected by them as it also works to keep PDX above freezing on quite a few nights.

The sweet spot is where you can be far enough away from the outflow to not get constantly mixed by it, but still close enough where you can be affected by the generally cooler airmass/low dps/radiational cooling potential/evaporative cooling potential.

 

My current location seems pretty decent for that, but there are even better spots. Places that are in that Goldilocks zone will also tend to lose the wind at night then have it kick back up in the late morning as daytime warming mixes it back down. So you don’t have it messing with your lows but it keeps things nice and brisk during the day. The best of both worlds.

[Omegaraptor]

Still 51 here and sort of breezy.

 

I would be fine with this warmth if I knew it was not going to get really cold later on.   If its going to get cold and snowy... I wish it would hurry up already.

 

This type of January torch followed by cold and snow later in February caused problems last year.   I swear the full leaf out last spring was stunted.   The trees were fooled and then punished.   The trees seemed less full than normal from the start last year and it certainly was not for a lack of rain... it was the wettest April ever here.

 

I would prefer to have cold and snow in the heart of winter...  or at least don't torch in the heart of winter and then turn really cold later.

 

What was April ‘18 like up there? Was it wet the whole month or half wet half dry like it was here?

[SilverFallsAndrew]

The sweet spot is where you can be far enough away from the outflow to not get constantly mixed out by it, but still close enough where you can be affected by the generally cooler airmass/low dps/radiational cooling potential/evaporative cooling potential.

 

My current location seems pretty decent for that, but there are even better spots. Places that are in that Goldilocks zone will also tend to lose the wind at night then have it kick back up in the late morning as daytime warming mixes it back down. So you don’t have it messing with your lows but it keeps things nice and brisk during the day. The best of both worlds.

 

My area works kind of like that with inversions. At least during strong ones. We are right on the edge of the inversion so typically it stays clear at night, but then I stay under the effects of the inversion during the day, sometimes with fog moving up out of the valley for a few hours to cap daytime heating. It was how I ended up so cold during the January 2013 inversion fest. But even worked out in January 2017 when I ended up with 13 sub-freezing highs. 

[TT-SEA]

What was April ‘18 like up there? Was it wet the whole month or half wet half dry like it was here?

 

Ridiculously wet through the 17th... and then turned very warm and dry.  

[MossMan]

39 and clear.

[TT-SEA]

00Z EPS for the 10-15 day period...