On the Way

 

A taste of Fall weather will arrive this week.  Remember to roll up the car windows.

 

The leading edge of a cooler air mass will begin to arrive from the NW as early as Tue evening over Vancouver Island.  This portion is not particularly wet, so we must wait a bit longer for steady rain.  That said, don’t rule out a few showers possible over NW WA by Wed, esp higher elevations.  It will continue to 

cool down across the entire PNW on Thu the 16th.  

 

By Thu night, expect the rain field to arrive, draping across the region from north to south.  Fri looks WET & breezy.   Chilly air will pool over the PNW as a Low slowly moves in on Sat.  Expect on/off showers through the weekend; sweaters or coats will be come out of the closet.  The cold front will move over ID by late Sunday.  A crisp morning will greet the new work/school week on the 20th.  Fall colors will be triggered.

 

Models have been trending away from another large system on Wed the 23, but not completely.  If the system does develop, most of the precip should fall north of Portland or be limited to NW WA.  Generally, without that system, mild & sunny afternoons (lots of 70s) should prevail much of that week.  The weekend of Sep 25,26 may turn wet again, esp for the northern half of WA and BC.  Oregon & Idaho could remain mostly dry.  

 

In the Sep 25-29 period, model solutions keep the ‘jet-stream’ upper-level winds rushing over southern BC, holding most of the rain up in southern BC, clipping Vancouver Is & the far NW corner of WA.  Breezy at times, though, for much of the PNW.  Rain may return by Friday Oct 1st.

 

Bottom line: we are finally on track for measurable rainfall.  The uncertainty for rain beyond this Friday’s (& weekend) storm centers on how far south the ‘jet stream’ will shift afterward, resulting in additional rain for all of the PNW.  To repeat, latest trend is leaning toward Canada, not OR, WA, ID. 

 

Personal Note:  the Giant Pumpkin Project here in the retirement community has been a success.  Final Weight Estimate will be Tue Sep 14.  The image of “The Pumpkinator” (below) was taken Saturday evening (we’ll share the weight in the next report.)

 

Repeat from the past: “Some tasks have to be put off dozens of times before they completely slip our minds.”