Arctic air pumping into NW; colder blast on way

Woodmonkey · 02-16-2006, 20:15

Time to break out the hot buttered rums!

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Arctic air pumping into NW; colder blast on way

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Cold. Colder. Coldest.

That's the weather progression Oregon and southwest Washington are experiencing and will continue to shiver through over the next several days as the region is gripped by the coldest weather in years, meteorologists say.

"Here we go! Cold air begins to pour out of the Gorge later this afternoon and tonight," KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky said Thursday morning.

The arctic air, which is on loan from Canada, will make its way from east to northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, funneling through the Columbia River Gorge.

"Temperatures will drop another five to 10 degrees over the next 24 hours. Winds will pick up and race through the Gorge. Gusts at the west end might reach 50 mph. Wind chill temperatures will drop to dangerous levels, -10 to -20 degree levels," he said.

With a wind chill temperature of -10 and 50 mph winds, a person could get frostbite after just 10 minutes outside, according to the National Weather Service wind chill chart.

It will be even colder in the Cascades, where highs might not even reach the teens and lows will be in the single digits.

kgw.com photo/viewer Brett Eichenberger

Evergreen tree on Bald Peak shortly after a brief snowfall in rural Washington County on Valentine's Day.

Despite a predicted high of 44 degrees Thursday, by late morning the Portland area still struggled to rise above freezing. And that's nothing compared to what's in store for the weekend -- Friday and Saturday's highs are expected to hover below or at freezing with Portland area overnight temperatures in the low 20s or high teens.

In fact, the frigid temperatures could threaten to tie or set new cold weather records this weekend, according to meteorologists. Portland's cold temperature record is -3, set on on Feb. 2, 1950. Salem's record is -12, set in 1972. The coldest temperature recorded in the Gorge was -5 at the Bonneville Dam on Feb. 1, 1950, according to the National Weather Service.

Still, the chance of snow in the metro area will remain slight, according to Salesky.

"I've been answering a lot of questions and calls about snow. Will we see some? I think very little, if any. Moisture with the arctic front is limited," he said.

Temperatures could reach 10 degrees in some Oregon cities on Friday night.

Low temperature records in western Washington state as well are likely to fall in the next few days, according to The National Weather Service.

Forecasters expect low temperatures in western Washington to dip into the teens Friday and Saturday. The lows in parts of eastern Washington could hit single digits.

There have only been two cold spells in the past decade during which temperatures dropped below 20 degrees at Sea-Tac Airport, the weather service said. One was in January of 1996 and the other was in December of 1998.

"Temperatures will be slow to recover to normal levels. It may be Wednesday or Thursday before highs get back into the 40s and next weekend before we see 50 degrees, the normal high for this time of year," Salesky said.

The average overnight temperature in Portland for this time of year is 43 degrees.

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conlor · 02-16-2006, 20:28

We've had quite a day in Mid-MI. It snowed about 3" over night. This morning there was a fine misty 'rain'. Sometime during the day (I think early afternoon) it poured rain. It hailed about 3-3:30 and was hailing on my way home after 4:30. Right now, it's hailing and raining and there's thunder and lightning.

We have winter storm warnings for 6 pm tomorrow.

Woodmonkey · 02-16-2006, 21:31

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Originally Posted by conlor

We've had quite a day in Mid-MI. It snowed about 3" over night. This morning there was a fine misty 'rain'. Sometime during the day (I think early afternoon) it poured rain. It hailed about 3-3:30 and was hailing on my way home after 4:30. Right now, it's hailing and raining and there's thunder and lightning.

We have winter storm warnings for 6 pm tomorrow.

That's a wide range of weather.

Not sure how long this weather will last for us though. We might be coming out of ours just as you are going into yours.

scott.voigt · 02-16-2006, 22:21

ft campbell

thurs 820pm: 66 deg F
FRI HIGH: 40 DEG F

Talk about temperate shifts!

JohnRN · 02-17-2006, 00:04

Damned Canadians

Snowden · 02-17-2006, 00:13

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Originally Posted by John.

Damned Canadians

Now, John - You know if you were up there you would push it down here as fast as possible!