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Here again is my new weekly weather quiz question. One of the most important discoveries in modern Meteorology occurred during World War II. In 1944 our bombers taking part in the first raid on Japan had many of the planes run out of fuel much sooner than expected and many of them had to ditch in the ocean. What caused them to use up so much more fuel and later became one of the major tools in weather forecasting? Please post your answer as a comment after the forecasts on this page. The first person to post the correct answer will win a week of free personalized weather forecasts tailored to your needs. Good luck.

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The upper air flow (yellow jet stream and dark colors for winds) shows a small high pressure ridge (“arch” shape in the yellow line) will give us a short period of drier weather for today. A trough of low pressure (“U” shape offshore) will quickly move behind the ridge pushing lots of moisture our way to set us up for some more wet weather. More frontal systems (position shown Saturday) will be hitting Oregon over the weekend with a cooler air mass expected. This is good news for the ski resorts because the milder and rainy weather we have been having is being replaced with colder temperatures, falling snow levels, and new serious mountain snow accumulations.

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Advisories: NONE AT THIS TIME.

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Here are your detailed forecasts. **

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Forecast for the Southern and lower Mid Willamette Valley including Eugene-Springfield and Albany-Corvallis:  AM clouds and patchy fog, freezing fog, and frost then a mix of clouds and sun this afternoon,  partly cloudy in the with a slight (20%) chance of rain late tonight, a slight (20%) chance of AM rain, a mix of clouds and sun Friday afternoon, rain Friday night through Saturday night highs hovering from 47-45 lows 31-38. Mostly cloudy with rain likely (60%) Sunday through Tuesday night, and showers likely (60%) Wednesday highs 44-48 lows near 38. (seasonal averages highs 45 low 33)

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Forecast for the Umpqua Basin including, Roseburg:  Areas of fog this AM  mostly cloudy this afternoon and tonight,  mostly cloudy a slight (20%) chance of AM rain Friday, a good (50%) chance of rain and snow Friday afternoon (snow level 2,500 ft. falling to 2,000 ft. in the afternoon), and rain Friday night (snow level 3,000 ft. at night and 3,000 ft. falling to 2,500 ft Saturday) through Saturday night (snow level 3,000 ft.) highs near 48 lows 32-40. Mostly cloudy with rain Sunday, rain and snow likely (60%) Sunday night, rain Monday through Tuesday night, then showers likely (60%) Wednesday highs near 46 lows 37-40. (seasonal averages high 49 low 35)

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Forecast for the South Oregon Coast including Coos Bay and North Bend: Areas of patchy fog this AM, then mostly cloudy this afternoon, a slight (20%) chance of rain tonight (snow level 2,000 ft), cloudy with a good (50%) chance rain Friday AM, afternoon rain likely (60%),  rain Friday night and Saturday, rain and breezy Saturday night highs 47-53 lows 35-42. Mostly cloudy with rain and breezy Sunday, rain likely (60%-70%) Sunday night, rain Monday through Tuesday night, then showers likely (60%) Wednesday highs 45-48 lows  40-43. (seasonal averages high 53 lows 39).

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Forecast for the Cascades of Lane County:  A mix of clouds and sun today, partly cloudy in the evening, mostly cloudy with a slight (20%) chance of snow late tonight, a mix of clouds and sun Friday AM, mostly cloudy with a slight (20%) chance of snow in the afternoon, then snow and rain likely (60%) in the evening, then snow and rain late Friday night (1-4 in. of snow possible), snow and rain Saturday AM, then snow in the afternoon (3-7 in. of snow possible) and breezy, snow Saturday night snow level 3,500 ft. rising to 4,000 ft. this afternoon, free air freezing level 4,000 ft. falling to 3,500 ft. late tonight, 2,500 ft. rising to 3,000 ft. Friday afternoon,  3,500 ft. Friday night, snow level 2,500 ft. Saturday and Saturday night highs 35-30 lows 22-27. Mostly cloudy with snow likely (60%) Sunday through Tuesday night, and snow showers likely Wednesday snow level at the surface except 3,000 ft. Sunday and Monday night highs 30-33 lows between 28-24.

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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.