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Check out my latest Eugene Daily News Weather Or Not Column The Polar Vortex Came For A Visit And Left A Mark.
And don’t forget my latest feature story on continuing series on service club organizations
called Most Remember The Fireworks, But What Is An Active 20-30 Club?
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Sunday was Groundhog Day and I checked in with many of the groundhogs to see what they had for a forecast. The most famous groundhog”Punxsutawney Phil” led the group that saw there shadow predicting 6 more weeks of Winter. The others in that group are Sun Prairie Jimmy, and Staten Island Chuck. Those not seeing their shadow predicting an early Spring are Malverne Mel, Holtsville Hal, General Lee, and Buckeye Chuck. That’s 4 to 3 in favor of an early Spring. The one groundhog who I haven’t mentioned is Spencer Butte Bob, my personal groundhog. It was bright and sunny this morning so Bob saw his shadow predicting another 6 weeks of winter. Remember, these predictions are about as accurate as flipping a coin, but it is fun to check this out each year.
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Here is my new weekly weather quiz question. What is a “waterspout?” 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. Good luck.
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An upper level low (Shaded “U” shape) will be moving away from us as a high pressure ridge (Shaded “Arch” shape) will move toward the coast early in the week and start to dry us out again, but we’ll also get colder. Willamette Pass was open over the weekend with limited operations due to the low amount of snow. Hoodoo and Mt. Ashland remain closed until significant snow falls again. A frontal system has dropped down on us from the northeast. That is called a “back door cold front” because it didn’t come from the usual northwesterly or westerly direction, but sagged down from the northeast dragging with it colder air from the interior of Canada. A complex set of frontal systems will be headed toward the Pacific coast next Monday.
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Advisories:
- A FROST ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM UNTIL 8 AM TUESDAY FOR THE SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON COAST AND THE CURRY COUNTY COAST.
- A FREEZE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR THE SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON COAST AND THE CURRY COUNTY COAST.
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Air Quality Index:
Eugene-Springfield: The Pollution Index is 16 in the Good category measuring Particulate Matter at Springfield City Hall. Data courtesy of Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA)
Oakridge: The Pollution Index is 21 in the Good category measuring Particulate Matter at Willamette Activity Center, Oakridge. Data courtesy of Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA)
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Home Wood Heating Advisory:
Eugene/Springfield: (YELLOW) Burning Cautioned Against.
Oakridge: (YELLOW) Burning Cautioned Against.
The use of Pellet stoves is always allowed.
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Forecast for the Southern and lower Mid Willamette Valley including Eugene-Springfield and Albany-Corvallis:
- Mostly cloudy with patchy fog and freezing fog late tonight,
- Patchy AM fog and freezing fog, a mix of clouds and sun Tuesday afternoon, mostly clear and colder at night,
- Sunny Wednesday, mostly clear and cold at night.
- Mostly sunny Thursday, clear and cold at night.
- lows 29-13 warming to 18 Thursday night highs 40-30.
- Mostly sunny Friday, partly cloudy at night,
- Mostly cloudy with rain or snow likely (70%) Saturday and Saturday night,
- Then rain likely (70%) Sunday through Monday.
- highs 20-39 lows 20-39. (seasonal averages high 49 low 35).
Forecast for the Umpqua Basin including Roseburg:
- Mostly cloudy with a slight (20%) chance of rain and snow showers late tonight, a slight (20%) chance of showers with patchy freezing fog toward morning (snow level 2,000 ft. falling to 1,500 ft.),
- Mostly cloudy with patchy AM freezing fog, partly cloudy Tuesday afternoon and night with patchy freezing fog late at night,
- Partly cloudy Wednesday AM, sunny in the afternoon, partly cloudy at night,
- Mostly sunny and colder Thursday, then mostly clear and colder at night.
- lows 30-18 highs 45-33.
- Sunny Friday, partly cloudy Friday night,
- Cloudy with a good (50%) chance of rain and snow Saturday AM, rain and snow in the afternoon, rain and snow likely (60%) in the evening, rain likely (60%) and just a bit warmer late Saturday night,
- Rain likely (60%) and a bit warmer Sunday, rain likely (70%) at night,
- Then rain Monday.
- highs 36-50 lows 20-40. (seasonal averages high 52 low 37)
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Forecast for the South Oregon Coast including Coos Bay and North Bend:
- Mostly cloudy with a slight (20%) chance of evening inland showers (evening snow level 2,000 ft.) while a slight (20%) chance of coastal showers late tonight (under 0.10 in. of rain possible) and partly cloudy with patchy frost toward morning, mostly cloudy with patchy frost Tuesday AM, partly cloudy in the afternoon and Tuesday night with more patchy frost late at night,
- Partly cloudy Wednesday and Wednesday night (colder),
- Mostly sunny Thursday, then mostly clear at night.
- lows 34-24 highs 47-36.
- Sunny Friday, partly cloudy at night,
- Mostly cloudy with rain and snow likely (60%) Saturday AM, rain and snow in the afternoon, rain likely (70%) Saturday night and Sunday (a bit warmer), then rain Sunday night and Monday.
- highs 38-53 lows 27-47. (seasonal averages high 52 low 40)
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Forecast for the Cascades of Lane County:
- Mostly cloudy with a (30%) chance of scattered snow showers this evening, a slight (20%) chance of snow showers late tonight,
- Partly cloudy Tuesday through Wednesday AM, mostly sunny Wednesday afternoon, partly cloudy Wednesday night and Thursday, then clear Thursday night.
- snow level at the surface tonight, free air freezing level at the surface Tuesday through Thursday night.
- lows 11-3 highs 22-10.
- Mostly sunny Friday, partly cloudy at night,
- Mostly cloudy with snow Saturday, snow or freezing rain likely (60%) at night,
- Rain likely (70%) Sunday and Sunday night,
- Then rain or snow likely (70%) Monday.
- free air freezing level at the surface Friday and Friday night, snow level at the surface Saturday and Saturday night, 6,000 ft. Sunday and Sunday night, then 5,000 ft. Monday.
- highs 18-37 lows 10-30.
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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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