The WxCafe™

Announcement

Posted by Rufus La Lone on October 15, 2025

Dear Patron,

This letter serves to announce that my final weather forecast will be published on October 31, 2025.

My venture called “The Weather Café^®” began during the first week of November 1994. Interestingly, one definition of ‘venture’ (American Heritage Dictionary, 5^th Ed.), can mean, “An undertaking that is…of uncertain outcome.” Surely, forecasting weather around the Pacific Northwest can have an uncertain outcome! Over the decades, my forecasts, written in a style mirroring folks sipping morning coffee in a Café discussing weather, became increasingly popular across many sectors of PNW life. Growers, processors, businesses, schools, government agencies, and residents all provided feedback attesting The Weather Café^®provided a helpful, free community service. Thousands of Patrons inspired me to continue writing weather forecasts every Monday & Friday.

It's hard to grasp that 31 years have passed! I was 41 in 1994, literally a generation ago. We’ve had several Patrons pass away during that time, as did my first wife, Kay, after 45 years together. Other, current Patrons were not even born when this venture started. Oh, and I had a plenty of hair back in 1994, too!

Over the years, comments of appreciation from Patrons provided the incentive to faithfully publish the forecasts. That’s what makes ending this endeavor so difficult. However, it is prudent to do this on ‘my time’ and not because of a serious illness or sudden passing. I do respect how each Patron will personally take this news, and I am sorry for wanting to 'hang up my umbrella'. As I am nearly 73 years old, freeing up the many hours assigned to prepare each forecast will open up more time to enjoy full retirement. I know this will be understood.

Thanks so much for tolerating the silly grammar & date mistakes made over the years. I especially thank everyone for sharing those morning Mugs with me each week. I close with my favorite tag line: “I work best under high pressure.”

-Rufus

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Breaks in the Rain

Posted by Rufus La Lone on October 13, 2025

Monday October 13

Another week, another peek at the outlook for the rest of October. Coffee ready here.

Cool Columbus Day, with a bit of chilly wind out of the Fraser Gap today. Regionally, a chilly night ahead, but our Sunday storm has moved down into CA for this week (lots of wx issues for the Golden State from this system). For this week it looks DRY, with some sunshine, at times. Temps will not warm up quite as much as we mentioned last Fri, but low 60s possible by the end of the week. (Morning FROST possible east side through Thu, if the sky clears in your location.)

The coming weekend will start out dry & mild, then turn quite WET by Oct 19. The next storm will move over Vancouver Is after dark on Sat the 18th, then spread over the rest of the region overnight. Breezy. Again, Sunday will be damp and chilly. Snow likely above the passes.

Week of Oct 20-24 will start with cool showers that will diminish Monday afternoon leading into a dry Tue the 21st. Models indicate a WET system that will arrive Wed and continue ito Fri the 24th; however, this wet storm may limit its reach to western WA & BC. Oregon may miss out on the rain until Fri, and even then, only north of Salem and along the Columbia River Gorge.

Weekend of Oct 25,26 is trending PLEASANT on Saturday & early Sunday, before heavy rain moves in late Sunday on through the start of the following week.

⚠️ VERY WET & WINDY Mon - Wed Oct 27-29. A notable October storm period, with localized flooding possible, especially given falling leaves.

< Watch for our special announcement this Wed the 15th. >

“It’s not the ups and downs of life that bother the average person - it’s the jerks!"

-Rufus

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Both Wet & Dry

Posted by Rufus La Lone on October 10, 2025

Friday October 10

Well, the long awaited turn into a wet period has taken place. Looking forward through October, we see both wet & dry periods, with lowering snow levels, at times, in the mountain,. Oh, and we see a Mug that needs refilling. Get to it.

That cool Low pressure system, that has been ‘parked’ west of the WA/OR coast the past day or two, will finally nudge inland, continuing rain and showers, along with a possible thunderstorm, through today (the 10th) into the first half of the weekend. Another Low will move in from the NW BC coast on Sunday, with even cooler temps, more rain, and lowering snow levels.

By early Monday Oct 13 - Columbus Day - that Sunday Low will have worked its way down along the southern OR coast, setting up an outflow of chilly WINDS down the Fraser Gap, and to a lesser extent, the Columbia River Gorge. (This will NOT be an Arctic Event as the ‘Yukon Dome’ of high pressure will be well above our ‘indicator' 1040 mb depth.) Clearing, but notably chilly, most of the day Monday (upper 40s to low 50s). Shutdown or not, Columbus Day is a recognized Federal holiday, so don’t expect everything to be open. Grab a book if indoors; a sweater if outdoors that day.

The rest of the Oct 13-17 week is charting as DRY and gradually warming - - temps could climb back into the upper 60s to low 70s by Fri. Winds will diminish late Tue, so don’t be surprised to experience some foggy-bottoms later in the week. California will turn WET and rather stormy as the PNW Low is modeled to drop farther south, wetting the Golden State; some localized flooding or mudslide issues could develop.

Our next chance some precipitation arrives the weekend of Oct 18,19. No strong storm is charted, just a cold front draping over the PNW, with most of the moisture falling over southern & eastern OR on Sunday. Temps will cool down again, much like Columbus Day.

Week of Oct 20-24: Trending mostly dry, with a glancing cold front passing mainly over BC mid-week. Fall cool temps on tap. Earlier solutions brought more rain into the entire region; we’ll see what verifies. —> Possible STRONG WINDS across northern CA early that week, as a wet Low passes over Las Vegas.

Dry for the Oct 25,26 weekend, per current projections.

Note: we will be making an important announcement on October 15. Please be sure to check your email or our OVS webpage on that day.

“What the world needs is peace that passes all misunderstanding."

-Rufus

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Soggy Second Half

Posted by Rufus La Lone on October 06, 2025

Monday October 6

Let’s get this going — grab your Mug ☕️

Warm temperatures - for October - are on tap for today & Tue around the PNW; cooler on Wed by several degrees as a weak trough (Low) begins to set up just west of the PNW coast. Not much precip associated with this mid-week pattern, but definitely a cool-down into more normal Oct temperatures (upper 50s - low 60s). The cooler, partly cloudy pattern will hold through most of Fri. East winds will be notable through the Columbia River Gorge, and Cascades passes ahead of the shift onshore mid-week. Low temps close to Frost Point around Hood River growing area until mid-week.

The coming weekend of Oct 11,12 will present another drop in temps, along with increasing showers and/or steady rain because that off-shore Low will move inland over OR. Quite possible for a skiff of snow over the Cascades. Rough estimate of cumulative precip, west side, this coming weekend is 0.2" - 0.5”.

Week of Oct 13-17 is trending mostly dry & rather cool (50s) for the first couple of days, then sometime on Wed the 15th, a RAINY PERIOD will commence, from north-to-south, and is modeled to last through the following weekend (Oct 18,19). We ’seen’ this before to now avail, however, given the time of year, this time around should verify. Lowland totals of precip this cycle could exceed 2 inches. Soggy City for the second half of October. Also, the system charting for Sat night, Oct 18 could be WINDY.

It’s likely to be mostly dry to start the week of Oct 20, then turning wet again, with decent mountain snowfall.

“Government machinery has been described as a marvelous laborsaving device which enables 10 people to do the work of one."

-Rufus

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Half Dry

Posted by Rufus La Lone on October 03, 2025

Friday October 3

Good morning, Patron. ☕️ Grab that Mug and refill for the latest peek into the outlook for the first half of October 2025.

Currently, a cool, somewhat damp pattern remains over the PNW, with an occasional shower here & there, along with fall-cool temps. By Sunday the 5th, dry & warmer conditions will arrive.

Next week will start out dry and pleasant, with temps in the 70s most locations through Wed Oct 8. A ridge of high pressure will provide the favorable weather. A weak system may arrive sometime late Thu, bringing with it cloudiness, cooler temps, and possibly some precipitation. Fri the 10th does look rather wet & chilly, at least for now (models indicate uncertainty in this system getting close enough to the coast to usher in rainfall).

Weekend of Oct 11,12: trending wet & chilly on Sat, then turning dry again Sunday for another extending period of DRY & MILD conditions.

Early yet, but it we may get a return of some rainfall by Sunday Oct 19. Therefore, the first half of October will likely be mostly dry.

“Discretion is simply leaving a few things unsaid.”

-Rufus

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