Record Snow Depths?

Well I guess so... The 2 week arctic air/snow event (that we are still struggling to pull out of) has apparently shattered Hood River historical snow depth records for at least 11 consecutive days.

According to my reckoning (and a yardstick embedded into the snow on the deck), we surpassed the snow depth records starting 12/18, and that continued through 12/28. At our house, the yardstick maxed out at 31 inches on Christmas Day. Note to self: Think twice about wishing for a White Christmas in the future.

By the way, the deepest officially recorded snow depth for Hood River was 47 inches on Jan 9, 1980.

Wecome To The Arctic

Arctic air, that is. This temporary incursion of arctic air presents a tremendous opportunity to experience living in a place that has really cold winters. But only for a week or so! Perfect!

We had 5 inches of snow Sunday (which may be a local record), a cold inversion Monday, and beautifully clear sunny weather today. High temp today 23, low 9, minimum wind chill 0 (zero). Tomorrow, snow moves back in, along with another big storm this weekend as the arctic air starts to moderate. This is interesting weather, and I like interesting weather.

Fortunately, arctic blasts here rarely last longer than a week. They usually end on a very messy precipitation event, but they usually end in a timely fashon.

And this one had a perfect setup, at least for garden plants: There were (and still are) several inches of snow on the ground before the really cold temperatures set in, giving plants and the soil a comfy insulating blanket.

Here's a zoomed in and very fuzzy view of Mt Adams from the deck this evening. I gotta trim those branches (except that they belong to a neighbor a block away):


I'll have another post shortly regarding my thoughts on the Hood River Weather site's new addition: the live chat window.

Record Rain

Yesterday's rainfall of 0.41 inches surpassed the old record of 0.36 inches set in 1936.

I haven't crunched the numbers yet for May, but I'm pretty sure it was cooler than average. June is also starting off cool and wet. Lawns, gardens, and slugs are loving this. I'm glad something is.

But there's a bright side to this otherwise really depressing weather. There is so much snow still in the mountains (especially in the low to mid elevations) that a cool Spring is exactly what we need. Cool temps, slower snow melt, less flooding. In the Big Picture, this is a good thing.

Snow

Yep, it snowed today. March 28th. Amazing. Snow this time of the year in Hood River is not unheard of, but it's very unusual, especially for the past few decades. We had 2 inches on our deck by 8 am this morning. It melted away by noon, but snow flurries have continued sporadically all day. Today's high temperature only reached 39 degrees at our house, which ties the "lowest high" record for the date set in 1936. Since official Hood River records are kept by the OSU Ag Station, this may have actually broken that record. Tomorrow's "lowest high" record of 42 degrees (also in 1936) might fall, as cold, wet, and probably snowy weather is forecast thru Saturday noon. Things should start warming by Sunday into next week.

The last date in the Spring in Hood River that has ever received measurable snow is April 4th in (yep, you guessed it)...1936.

Spring Arrives (Sort Of)

You wouldn't know it from the cold, mostly cloudy weather lately, but today marks the return of Spring. The vernal equinox, with nearly equal hours of daytime and nighttime, occurs when the tilt of the earth on its axis places the sun directly over the equator.

Whereas February in Hood River was warmer than average, March has been cooler. There have only been two days so far (March 9-10) where the high reached the low to mid 60's. Sure would be nice to have some 70 degree days, but the forecast for the rest of the month is for more of the same.

Lots of snowpack in the mountains though!

Record Snow Yesterday?

Almost certainly. In Hood River, the record snowfall for Jan 26 was 9 inches in 1933. We had 11 inches on our deck at 8 pm last night, and 16 inches this morning at 8 am.

Since snow depth is so variable from place to place, we'll have to wait until the OSU Extension station announces their official snowfall amount before declaring a new record in Hood River for Jan 26.

Today's (Jan 27) record snow was 19.5 inches in 1954. That record is safe. However, new storms are moving through in the next couple of days. With temperatures expected to be around freezing, more record snow is a distinct possibility.

Hood River's highest one day snowfall was 47 inches on Jan 9 (1980), although folks here at the time remember something more like 5 to 7 feet.

Have fun in the snow. Be safe, especially while driving (slow down!) and snow shoveling (take lots of breaks!).

Snow

After a week of sunny and cold weather, moisture returns. Right now (Saturday 8 pm), it's in the form of snow. Lots of snow. 11 inches and more to come. The temperature, which has dipped to 14 degrees in the past week, is still plenty cold at 27 degrees. The warming trend will be slow over the next few days.

Forecasts are for more precipitation through Tuesday. If past patterns hold true, most will fall in the form of snow, followed by sleet, followed by freezing rain.

For those who like a wide variety of weather, this winter has been great. Hardly any boring cloudy inversion events. And, in a couple more weeks, winter patterns will start changing over to more spring-like patterns.

Feel free to post your local snow amounts here.

Snow

4 inches of snow on the deck here in west Hood River at 6:30 am, and probably more to come.

Feel free to post your own snow amounts here.

Update: 5:30 pm, snowing all day but melting and packing down. 6 inches accumulation on deck.

Snow

2 inches of snow on the deck this Saturday morning. Very nice to wake up to, and on a non-work day at that. Life doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

And now it's 4 pm, 39 degrees, and the snow is pretty much gone after warming temperatures and drizzling rain do their thing.

It's been a good weather month here in the Hood. Lots of variety, none of the flooding and hurricane force winds that devastated the Oregon Coast, and only an occasional fog inversion that doesn't last more than a day or two. The low temperatures are staying moderate: 29 degrees in November, and 27 degrees so far in December. So mild that we are still able to harvest some lettuce, green onions, cilantro, and celery from the vege garden. And the seed catalogues for next season are starting to arrive...

Rain

Much less snow overnight than expected, at least for west Hood River. 4 inches on the deck and melting, as the rain starts to pick up. Major flood watch/warnings are posted for most of western Oregon as moisture-laden subtropical fronts blast in today and Monday, with a lot of snow on the ground to melt.

Snow Again

High noon, and the aforementioned snow storm has started at our west Hood River location. Intermittant light flakes so far. 1 inch of previous snow is on our deck, and this storm could add 6 to 12 more. I've received reports of 12 inches of previous snow on the ground in upper Odell, and 17 inches in Parkdale. Add another foot or so on top of that today and tonight, and then rain tomorrow and Monday. Flooding is a distinct possibilty. Hopefully not, as we don't need a repeat of Nature's re-design of the Hood River port area last year by the movement of gazillions of tons of sand and silt from Mt Hood and the Hood River valley down to the Columbia River.

Not that we mere mortals have much of a say over such things.

Feel free to post your snow amounts here.

Great Weather

And by "great weather", I mean weather that is dynamic, changes almost daily, and isn't an endless inversion fog pattern.

An inch of snow on the deck currently. More snow moves in later tomorrow, perhaps as much as 6 to 12 inches. Follow that up with warming west winds and heavy rain on Sunday and Monday. This is good stuff, except for the distinct possibility of major flooding...

Snow. Just Snow.

It's snowing lightly here in west Hood River. 34 degrees at 7:15 pm. Looking at the weather satellites, there's not a whole lot of precipitation moving in tonight. And it's definitely just snow, not ice.

Feel free to post your snow amounts here.

Snow? Freezing Rain? Sleet?

In any event, Something Very Slippery is most likely moving through the area tonight. With temperatures around 32 degrees in Hood River, the precipitation could fall as snow, or it could be rain that freezes into ice pellets before it hits the ground (sleet), or it could be rain that freezes onto the surfaces it falls upon (freezing rain).

Forecasts are for the precipitation to turn to rain by morning, but wintery conditions in Hood River are often underestimated in intensity and duration by forecast models.

Feel free to post your local observations here.

Snow!

Well now, this is rather unexpected. Sunday afternoon, 4 pm, 34 degrees, and it's snowing in Hood River. Not sticking currently at this elevation, but it's certainly accumulating higher up. How cool is this?! We haven't had a snowfall this early in a long time. It used to be we could count on a little snow by Thanksgiving, and here it is!

The forecast is for more precipitation through Monday, and then a drying trend through Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully sunny, but I wouldn't bet against a fog inversion...

Snow?

Nope. No snow. Probably not any time soon, either. However, historically speaking, October 29 is the earliest date in Fall that measurable snow has fallen in Hood River. Back on Oct 29, 1935, Hood River received 2.2 inches of the white stuff.

Snow In Town

It's been snowing at the mid and upper valley elevations off and on for a couple of days now, but this morning it's snowing all the way down to Hood River city levels. Nice big fat wet flakes, since the temperature is a little above freezing (33 degrees at 9 am).

2 inches on the ground so far at our house, about 1 mile south of Wal-Mart.

It's predicted to turn to rain later today, but forecasts for the Hood River area often underestimate snow events and amounts.

Feel free to post your snowfall amounts in comments below.

Speaking of Snow

Snow returns today to the Mid-Columbia region, followed by moderately cold arctic air for the next week or so. Feel free to post your local observations here...

Record Snowfall In 1980

Frank L. reminded me yesterday that this is the 27th anniversary of one of the biggest snowfalls in Hood River's recorded history. In 1980, a massive snowstorm hit the area, setting records in town with 6.5 inches on Jan 8, 47 inches on Jan 9, and 18 inches on Jan 10. Totals were considerably deeper at higher elevations. I was living in Odell at the time and drifts were easily up to 7 feet deep.

If you were here at the time, what were your experiences?