One of the strongest wind storms of the season is developing right now off the coast of Oregon.  Low center pressure of ~980 mb is expected to cross ‘inside the 130’ this afternoon, west of Astoria.  It is modeled to track for a ‘landfall’ around the Juan de Fuca Strait approx. 8 pm this evening, as center pressure slowly fills.  WINDS will likely gusts higher than 45 mph in much of western OR & WA later today and tonight.  Given saturated soils, tree falls are probable, as will be power outages. BE PREPARED - this could be a newsmaker event.  Rain and showers overnight, as well, but a long stretch of DRY wx is right around the proverbial corner.  Mug up, Patron.

By late Tue afternoon, the stormy atmosphere will calm down, ushering in an extended period of generally DRY and mild - even warm - weather to run out the month of Feb. (Vancouver Island could get a quick shot of rain/showers Wed night.)

Saturday, Mar 1, this weekend is looks absolutely delightful!!  Temps in the high 50s to low 60s west side.  A quick shot of precipitation is possible on Sunday, mainly over OR south of Woodburn.  

DRY & mild through the week Mar 3-7, with temps running a tad cooler.  Foggy bottoms possible in the usual locations.

Weekend of Mar 8,9 should start out dry on Sat, then turning damp from north-to-south on Sunday, as another series of Pacific fronts move into the PNW for a few days on into the following week.  Cool, with mountain snow.

Quite a swing in weather ‘moods’ ahead, so grab your Mug and read on to find out what in the world are we suggesting.

Moody weather as in heavy rain, warm sunny days, cold winter-like conditions, and yes, foggy bottoms.  Here’s the layout.

Stormy Mood.  Mild temps today, esp in western OR today, with some cloudiness.   Patrons around the Puget Sound north will get increased rainfall today.  ALL the PNW will be hit by moderate-to-heavy rainfall later Saturday on through Mon Feb 24.  WINDY at times!!  Temps will remain on the mild side, given the southerly flow.

Spring Fever Mood.  After Monday’s rain & wind, the moody wx will shift to DRY and quite mild.  Western OR may even top into the 60-63 degree range Thu & Fri, Feb 26,27.  Again, dry for all of Vancouver Island, southern BC, Puget Sound, OR, etc.  It will induce Spring fever.

Gloomy Mood.  The weekend of March 1,2 is looking DAMP, cloudy & cooler.  Kinda’ gloomy, breaking our Spring fever.  Drat.

Cold Shoulder Mood.  The week of Mar 3-7 will bring on more rain, showers and notably colder temps - a real downer for those seeking Spring.  Early in the week, temps will be chilly, but it will warm-up a few degrees as the first week of March 2025 nears an end.  Still wet, though.

That’s about it for the next couple of weeks.  A 'mood for all seasons’.  (Sorry, that was really bad.)

Seasonal weather ahead.  Simply put: plenty of rain, mountain snow and, generally, mild temps.  A morning Mug always hits the spot.  Here’s a quick rundown for the rest of February’s wx and a possible cold start to March.

This Week:  Showers will diminish today, opening up a fairly dry break through most of Tue.  Tuesday night, steady rain returns.  NOTE: for Oregon patrons, we may experience a quick shot of HIGH WINDS this Wednesday afternoon.  Don’t be surprised to feel gusts over 35 mph in the afternoon to early evening period, primarily along the central OR coast and in the Willamette Valley roughly south of Portland.  Drier Thu and most of Fri.  Rather damp over western WA & BC late Fri.  Mild temps. 

Coming weekend:  More rain, but after a nice ‘warm’ mid-50s Saturday afternoon (western OR, SW WA).  Moderate steady rain Sat night, all day Sunday into nighttime.  Breezy.

Week of Feb 24-28:  Trending wet Mon, Tue -> turning cooler.  Wed dry & cool; Thu dry early, turning wet mainly over the Puget Sound area, but it should be wet from Portland north.  Dry elsewhere.  Temps remain cool.  

First weekend of March 2025:  Looks damp and turning COLDER on Sunday, as a cold air mass moves in off the eastern Pacific.  Snow levels will lower dramatically, even into the coast range. Strong, cold onshore winds, as a surface Low moves into northern CA.  

Mar 3-7: Interesting possibilities.  A Yukon Dome of high pressure at 1054-1056 mb may develop, opening the door for a cold, frosty week.  We will monitor closely.  It’s not uncommon to have a cold air mass lingering around the PNW in early March - with low snow levels (1,500-3,000 ft), rain/snow mixed at the surface, along with hail and heavy showers.  Soils will chill down again.  

🌹 Valentine’s Day 2025

The PNW is just about done with subfreezing temps, snow, freezing rain, sleet — Winter.  Normal, relatively mild temps, with periods of rain and mountain snow, should round out the rest of February.  Mug up.

Snow & freezing rain issues this morning across the region.  By Valentine’s Day afternoon, temps will begin to moderate, melting the ice and slowly allowing a return to normal outdoor activity.  The usual cold spots will be slower to moderate -- Columbia Gorge, the far NW corner of WA and eastern basins.  Saturday should be mostly dry until late day, when the leading edge of a Pacific system - RAIN - moves onshore overnight into Sunday.  Moderate temps.

Next week is trending wet, with a series of Pacific storms moving onshore, spaced apart by merely a few hours.  Tue looks to be the drier of the 5 work days next week.  

The weekend of Feb 22,23 no longer charts as dry & mild; rather, it looks wet, esp for western WA & southern BC.  South of Eugene should remain mostly dry that weekend.  

Week of Feb 24-28 looks mostly dry after Monday, with Wed likely to be quite mild.  Southern OR could get some showers Thu from a system wetting northern CA.  We see RAIN returning late Fri Feb 28 to end the month.  March looks to start out wet.

Only another week of cold temps, then a return to mild conditions around the PNW.  First, though, winter has one more act to present.  All set?  Mug on.

All weather eyes on the quick shot of modified Arctic air that is set to descend into the PNW.  A cold dome of High pressure - >1040 mb - is making its way out of the interior of Canada, as we script this forecast.  Cold, very low Dew Point air, will rush out of both the Fraser & Columbia Gaps, pooling west of the Cascades (upper teens, lower 20s Wed morning).  All that will be needed is moisture.  Well, as advertised, a system will move in from the SW Wed night with enough moisture to create a real winter mess, esp in western OR.  

We will forecast SNOW - about 1" to 1.25” as probable south of Salem, before FREEZING RAIN begins topping the thin snow layer.  Commuting Thu morning and on through the day will challenge the best of drivers, so put off any road travel for a day or so, as the winter impact will be short-lived.  Snow or freezing rain highly probable up the Gorge area, as a ‘finger’ of warmer air will melt falling snow, setting up the freezing rain scenario.  HEED Nat’l Wx Service announcements - their team will be on this, for sure.

While frozen precip of some form will be the threat across the region through most of Thu, given the cold air flow out off the Gorge, we don’t see a notable threat to the Puget Sound area at this time - just cold air.  All indications are that by overnight Thu or Valentine’s Day, conditions will thaw under a light rain or showers heading into Sat Feb 15.  Sunday looks damp, with higher amounts of rain falling over western WA.  The westerly flow of air should put a full stop to frozen precip issues, excluding the Cascades and eastern basins.  Time for mild.

The week of Feb 17-21 is charting to start out with a continuation of showers from the Sunday system, then turn dry and mild for balance of the week.  A scattered shower is possible east side mid-week, but that is iffy.

The weekend of Feb 22,23 is looking really decent, for February.  Dry with temps teasing the upper 50s, esp if there is limited foggy bottoms.  Daylight is getting longer by nearly 3 minutes EVERY DAY this month.  Lovin’ it!

Rain may return during the last week of February.