Dry Before Fall Rains

Dry period for the week, with a return to periods of rain/showers likely beginning this weekend.  Mug time.

Warm today & Tue the 17th, with east winds rushing out of the Fraser and Columbia Gaps.  High pressure centered over northern ID will set up strong the relatively strong winds beginning later tonight.  Sunny & near 85 around western OR; cooler to the north.  While winds will weaken by mid-week, and temps will cool just a few degrees, no rain is forecast to arrive until Saturday.

Weekend of Sep 20,21:  Wet over most of western WA & BC; less so south of Portland.  Most of OR should just get some cloudiness.  Another system will follow on Sunday, but again, most of the precip will be over western WA/BC.  Regionally, cooler on Sunday.

Fall Equinox on Monday next week.  It should be dry Mon & Tue, Sep 22,23.  Broad area of RAIN will arrive on Wed the 24th.  The storm on Wed could be a strong one, so please be prepared for a WIND EVENT, esp the Puget Sound south to Chehalis.  This system will bring rain to most of western OR, as well.  Short break on Thu, before another weak system moves onshore Fri Sep 26.  

Sep 27,28 weekend:  Saturday should be dry with some cloudiness, but look out on Sunday —> Moderate-to-heavy rain arrives with a large system that will keep it wet well into Mon Sep 29.

Week of Sep 29-Oct 3.  Likely to be dry on the last day of Sep (Tue).  Possible arrival of yet another fall system sometime on Wed Oct 1.  Thu & Fri of that week look dry. 

🌀 Topical Tropical:  Atlantic hurricane season is in its peak now, with few mainland US threats thus far.  As you may have noticed, our previous discussion about GABRIELLA never happened, BUT it will this week.  Saharan Dust and other atmospheric attributes have tapped down notable tropical storm development; that may change as Sep ends, because atmospherics are changing.  The Gulf of America currently has a very high ‘heat content’, given the lack of strong storms that ‘mixes' surface/subsurface thermoclines (temperature ‘layers’), which would rapidly accelerate hurricane development should one move into the Gulf.  Stay tuned.  In the eastern Pacific theater, LORENA struck Mexico, with Tropical Storm MARIO now developing and possibly becoming a major RAIN PRODUCER over southern CA later this week.