Generally Drier

 

Referring broadly to the entire PNW, a drier period is ahead, as well as more seasonal January temperatures.  Let’s take a peek.

 

The windy storm front has now passed, so expect calmer conditions as the day progresses, diminishing rainfall, too.  Snow levels will drop in the mountains to around a 1,000 ft in the northern WA area, above 2,500 ft in OR.  The weekend should be mostly dry for all the PNW, as an offshore wind picks-up, esp in the Columbia River Gorge.

 

Next chance for precip looks to be early next week for NW WA & BC, less so for western OR, as a pattern of moisture trains right over the NW WA & BC area yet again.  Early yet, but this ‘train’ could keep rain in the picture for 2 or 3 days next week for the northern Puget Sound region.  (The dreaded ‘atmospheric river’ - enough already!)  

 

Stray showers possible in NW OR, but for now, it should trend mostly dry next week.  There is a chance for a weak system to bring light rain onshore Wed or Fri next week for OR, but even that is trending as a ‘maybe’.  

 

The weekend of Jan 15,16 looks to be mostly dry, except for the possibility of more rain over Vancouver Island late in the period.  A cold Yukon & Alberta High pressure Dome will form and begin moving south along the eastern side of the Rockies, setting up the coldest winter shot yet for the upper Plains & Great Lakes region.  WINDY.

 

The PNW is charting ‘mixed' for the Jan 17-21 period.  With the cold Canadian air mass moving into heartland, the west coast could remain rather dry, or as a few model runs suggest, turn wet again, esp over western WA.  We’ll monitor, of course.

 

Overall:  the trend is for drier conditions in comparison to last week, with the exception of a possible stretch of moderate rainfall concentrated over the NW corner of WA & southern BC early next week (let’s hope that fails to verify).