January 2026 PNW thread

[Winterdog]

1 hour ago, Slushy Inch said:

Avert your eyes if you can’t handle long range druncle maps. Sort of matches 12z euro.

That looks much better to me.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Finally snowing up here!

24 degrees and snowing at a decent rate.

Nothing really interesting in the forecast,  maybe 1 inch through tomorrow night but this area is extremely difficult to predict snowfall, and we are dead center in the heart of the Okanagan highlands.  

I've had good snowfalls when Nothing was forecasted many times and I've had many fails when under a winter storm warning. 

I still have nightmares about missing a big event 4 years ago, force was a snow advisory for 2-5 inches on a Friday evening through Saturday night. All models were showing about that but the storm track was ideal for here with a potential low moving in juat south of here. We were packed and ready and at last minute I  decided to stay home. From Friday night through Sunday afternoon it snowed non stop and dumped 25 inches on the 28 that was already on ground!!!! If I would of followed my gut feeling we wouldn't of missed the largest 2 day snow event up here in the last 10 years.

[Phishy Wx]

up from my nap.  spitting sleety snow

[antipex]

15 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

up from my nap.  spitting sleety snow

Started out snow/sleet/freezing rain here but it’s been all snow for a while coming down at a good clip. Maybe 0.25” new on everything. We made it with snow cover from last week!

[WeatherGeek2022]

it's now once more the month that is supposed to be the "heart of winter" lets see if it doesn't deliver routine disappointment again this year.

[Phishy Wx]

6 minutes ago, antipex said:

Started out snow/sleet/freezing rain here but it’s been all snow for a while coming down at a good clip. Maybe 0.25” new on everything. We made it with snow cover from last week!

bare ground here other than some accumulating frost this week lol

[Phishy Wx]

just in time to warm back up into the mid 40s.  YAY!

[TigerWoodsLibido]

41F with some light rain.

[Maple]

8 minutes ago, WeatherGeek2022 said:

it's now once more the month that is supposed to be the "heart of winter" lets see if it doesn't deliver routine disappointment again this year.

February is the new heart of winter

[antipex]

6 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

bare ground here other than some accumulating frost this week lol

It’s been white on the ground since that snow squall last week. And thanks to the flash freeze the sidewalks, side streets, and a lot of arterials between lanes have been a sheet of ice all this time.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Home gurl says it’s snowing in Spokecompton HOOD. 

[WeatherGeek2022]

10 minutes ago, Maple said:

February is the new heart of winter

I guess it is now  

[antipex]

Sleet snow and freezing rain now. Going to be a mess. Will be fun!

[SunAndSnow]

Haha

[TigerWoodsLibido]

If the freezing temp were 42F we would get buried.

[SouthHillFrosty]

6 hours ago, Cloud said:

@SouthHillFrostymy condolences to the RIP of THE Ohio State University in the CFP.

Yea it sucked but they didn’t deserve to win tbh 

 

Ended up today on the backside of rattlesnake ridge. A good amount of snow still tbh. The road is pretty rough and I can’t believe ppl live out there with that road.

@Meatyorologist your type of area. Retains snow great for lower elevations for the area (1200-1600 ft) ish 

 

[antipex]

Back to snow now. Strange precip types this evening.

[SnarkyGoblin]

58 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Home gurl says it’s snowing in Spokecompton HOOD. 

Dude where are you living these days?  Isn't your wife at silver falls?

[MossMan]

14 minutes ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

Dude where are you living these days?  Isn't your wife at silver falls?

He has a network spanning from Silver Falls to Spokane to Oklahoma! 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

19 minutes ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

Dude where are you living these days?  Isn't your wife at silver falls?

I’m living at Silver Falls currently. 

[Edmonds Husky]

3 hours ago, SeattleWeatherFan said:

Statistically, the last 3 winters were subpar. So we're due for a good one in SEA.

That is true. I think we’ll get one more (not including this one) and then SEA will be the big winner each year for a while, and we’ll enter a 2016-22 style stretch of good winters. 

[Edmonds Husky]

1 hour ago, Maple said:

February is the new heart of winter

Seasons are shifting further back. Takes longer for each to get started nowadays

[Meatyorologist]

56 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

Yea it sucked but they didn’t deserve to win tbh 

 

Ended up today on the backside of rattlesnake ridge. A good amount of snow still tbh. The road is pretty rough and I can’t believe ppl live out there with that road.

@Meatyorologist your type of area. Retains snow great for lower elevations for the area (1200-1600 ft) ish 

 

I've peeked around that area on Redfin and there are some properties up to 1800'. I even found a few around 2000'. Only problem is that they are sheltered by Rattlesnake Mountain from the east winds North Bend benefits from. So you lose that continental flavor that can squeeze out a few extra subfreezing highs and delay the transition to rain. @TT-SEA has mentioned numerous times a switchover to snow on I90 heading *down* into North Bend from the Upper Preston area due to those cold easterlies.

My guess though is that once you reach 1500' the benefits of elevation compensate for the lack of easterly exposure, and by 2000' you're already seeing some form of semi-permanent snowpack during half of your winters, or more.

[MossMan]

They stole what would have been our awesomely destructive winter fun. 

[Meatyorologist]

3 minutes ago, MossMan said:

They stole what would have been our awesomely destructive winter fun. 

Shilshole bay marina, 1/26/2026

[Vince Vance]

2 hours ago, Winterdog said:

That looks much better to me.

All I ask for now is just one flocken descent snowfall per season… is that too much to ask for? Must have gotten spoiled in the 60’s and 70’s

[Doinko]

12 minutes ago, MossMan said:

They stole what would have been our awesomely destructive winter fun. 

I was curious and checked their forecast and monday looks really snowy there. Pretty crazy winter for Juneau!

[WeatherGeek2022]

29 minutes ago, Vince Vance said:

All I ask for now is just one flocken descent snowfall per season… is that too much to ask for? Must have gotten spoiled in the 60’s and 70’s

yeah if those stats are real from back then that's insane and I wonder what happened to cause that not to happen anymore.

[Meatyorologist]

Nice December pull for Juneau in an era defined by a rapidly warming arctic. Four new daily record lows, including the pair of -10F's on the 22nd and 23rd. -10F is the coldest December reading since 1995, tying 1995 and 1955 for 5th coldest overall. You have to go back to 1968 to find a December reading below -10F. -10F is also the coldest reading at Juneau in general since 1995, and you have to go back to 1974 to find colder. Min/max of 7F on the 22nd is a daily record and the coldest December min/max since 1995. 15 highs below 20F, a new record for December. 15 lows below 10F, third most on record.

New all time snowiest December by a crazy 27.3"! 2nd snowiest month ever. New all time largest snow depth by 9". Five days with more than 9" of snow; more than twice the previous December record, tying the *DJF* record, and coming in 2nd place *annually* (technically tying for 1st annually if you shift the lens to Oct-Sep water years.)

Interestingly January 2024 also broke some new ground in the snow dept. 36" max snow depth was the highest for any month in decades, and 4 snows above 9" was double the previous monthly record. It could have been more memorable, but December 2025 just eclipsed that month in every metric imaginable.

[SpaceRace22]

Babes I got you a present 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

24 minutes ago, SpaceRace22 said:

Babes I got you a present 

Hilltop snow showers above 500ft at night, mid to upper 30's for highs. That's about all that airmass can do.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

30 minutes ago, SpaceRace22 said:

Babes I got you a present 

Seriously,  that is a good snow pattern right.there for lowlands 

[Make -PNA Great Again]

[KeyPeninsula_Wx]

46 minutes ago, SpaceRace22 said:

Babes I got you a present 

We’re due for some type of troughing out west. Been basically non existent so far this winter. Whether that impacts us on the west side of the mountains is TBD but somethings gotta give here. 

[TT-SEA]

RGEM shows decent windstorm from Seattle northward on Sunday...

[SouthHillFrosty]

1 hour ago, Meatyorologist said:

I've peeked around that area on Redfin and there are some properties up to 1800'. I even found a few around 2000'. Only problem is that they are sheltered by Rattlesnake Mountain from the east winds North Bend benefits from. So you lose that continental flavor that can squeeze out a few extra subfreezing highs and delay the transition to rain. @TT-SEA has mentioned numerous times a switchover to snow on I90 heading *down* into North Bend from the Upper Preston area due to those cold easterlies.

My guess though is that once you reach 1500' the benefits of elevation compensate for the lack of easterly exposure, and by 2000' you're already seeing some form of semi-permanent snowpack during half of your winters, or more.

Wouldn’t this area be protected and keep colder air longer? Or is that wrong 

[Meatyorologist]

6 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

Wouldn’t this area be protected and keep colder air longer? Or is that wrong 

Not sure, we should install some long term stations out there. I bet there are some microclimate nooks out near Kerriston that get quite a bit. Maybe tim has an idea

[Front Ranger]

1 hour ago, SpaceRace22 said:

Babes I got you a present 

There has to be an analog for this. Somewhere. Perhaps in @Phishy Wx hallucinations.

[Low Dew point]

8 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

PDX already has a record of consecutive years with snow. Weird in our present climate system. 

My brain is not what is used to be, but it seems like PDX has an easier time of scoring when we can't get maritime troughs but can sustain a significant cold pool in the Columbia Basin.  All they seem to need is a nice system to approach and either pull in the cold to get to snow, or freezing rain, de[ending op the upper levels.  Please correct me, this is what I have gathered over the years watching the Portlandians (and associated suburbs) has shown me.

[Front Ranger]

2 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I’m living at Silver Falls currently. 

MY LOCATION