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Sorry, no winner this week. Here is my weekly weather quiz question for the last time. How many “active” volcanoes are there in the world? Here is the correct answer. The answer to this common question depends upon use of the word “active.” At least 20 volcanoes will probably be erupting as you read these words (Italy’s Stromboli, for example, has been erupting for more than a thousand years); roughly 60 erupted each year through the 1990s; 154 in the full decade 1990-1999; about 550 have had historically documented eruptions; about 1300 (and perhaps more than 1500) have erupted in the Holocene (past 10,000 years); and some estimates of young seafloor volcanoes exceed a million. For more details go to The Global Vulcanism Program website. I’ll have a new weekly weather quiz question for you starting Monday. Please remember to post your answer as a comment by clicking on “no comments /comments” in the upper right hand portion of this page under the caption, then add your comment. The first person to post the correct answer will win a week of free personalized weather forecasts tailored to your needs. The answer has to be a comment to win. An email answer will not count.
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Today, Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Forecasters expect ~25 meteors per hour when the shower peaks on Sunday. The best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise. Observers in both hemispheres can see this shower. Sorry, but in the Pacific Northwest we will have clouds and showers so you probably won’t be able to see the meteor shower. The meteor shower will continue to taper off this week, but the clouds and rain will continue to hide it from us. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos, more information, and live audio from a meteor radar.
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Advisories: NONE AT THIS TIME.
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An upper level low (the shaded ”U” shape on the jet stream) is continuing to send moist air into the Pacific Northwest producing more clouds and the chance of rain while lowering mountain snow levels down to the passes. This storm is producing the first snowfall of the season at pass levels. That trough of low pressure will stay with us through the week.
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Forecast for the Umpqua Basin including Roseburg: Cloudy with a good (50%) chance of showers this AM, showers likely (60%) with a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon (under 0.10 in. of rain possible), rain tonight (0.20 in. of rain possible) and Monday AM, rain and a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon (0.20 in. of rain possible, snow level 3,500 ft.), showers Monday evening and showers likely (60%) Monday night (under 0.10 in. of rain possible, snow level 3,500 ft.), then mostly cloudy with showers likely (60%) Tuesday (snow level 3,000 ft. rising to 3,500 ft. in the afternoon, under 0.10 in. of rain possible) and Tuesday night highs 59-50 lows 42-39. Mostly cloudy with rain Wednesday and Wednesday evening, mostly cloudy with showers Wednesday night, showers likely (60%) Thursday, then mostly cloudy with a (40%) chance of showers Thursday night through Saturday highs 50-56 lows 42-39. (seasonal averages high 64 low 44)
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Forecast for the South Oregon Coast including Coos Bay and North Bend: Mostly cloudy with coastal showers and a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms this AM with showers likely (60%) inland this AM, showers and a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon (0.15 in. of rain possible), rain tonight (0.35 in. of rain possible), rain with a slight (20%) chance of coastal thunderstorms Monday AM, AM rain inland with a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon (0.25 in. of rain possible, small hail possible), showers in the evening, showers likely (60%) Monday night (0.20 in. of rain possible), showers Tuesday, then showers likely (60%) Tuesday night highs 56-50 lows 45-43. Mostly cloudy with rain Wednesday, and Wednesday evening, showers late Wednesday night, showers likely (70%) Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good (50%) chance of showers Thursday night through Friday night, then cloudy with a good (50%) chance of showers Saturday highs 50-55 lows near 44. (seasonal averages high 60 low 46)
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Forecast for the Cascades of Lane County: Cloudy with a good (50%) chance of rain and snow showers this afternoon (0.10 in. of rain possible), rain and snow showers with some small hail tonight (0.25 in. of rain possible, 1-2 in of snow possible), rain and snow showers with a slight (20%) chance of thunderstorms Monday afternoon (0.25 in. of rain possible, 1-3 in. of snow possible), rain and snow showers Monday night, cloudy with a good (50%) chance of rain and snow showers Tuesday AM, rain and snow showers likely (60%) in the afternoon and evening, a good (50%) chance of rain and snow showers late Tuesday night snow level 3,500 ft. today, 4,000 ft. tonight, 3,500 ft. Monday, 3,000 ft. Monday night and Tuesday, then 3,500 ft. Tuesday night highs 38-33 warming to 37 Tuesday lows 28-24. Mostly cloudy with rain and snow showers likely (60%) Wednesday and Wednesday night, mostly cloudy with a (40%) chance of rain and snow showers Thursday and Thursday night, a mix of clouds and sun with a (40%) chance of showers Friday, mostly cloudy with a (40%) chance of rain and snow showers Friday night, then mostly cloudy with a good (50%) chance of showers Saturday snow level 3,500 ft. Wednesday, 4,000 ft. Wednesday night through Thursday night, 4,500 ft. Friday, then 5,500 ft. Friday night, and 5,500 ft. Saturday highs 37-49 lows 24-27.
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**Because weather forecasting is a combination of science, intuition, and timing there can be no absolute guarantees that individual forecasts will be 100% accurate. Nature is in a constant state of flux and sudden unexpected weather events can happen.
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Get your local Eugene-Springfield news on-line at Eugene Daily News.com
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