Every year, at some point between late February and early March, it becomes obvious to weather forecasters that we’ve crossed the threshold from WINTER to EARLY SPRING in our mild climate west of the Cascades. That is happening this week. Looking ahead at our maps/models over the next two weeks, it’s clear you can take these actions.
I need to leave my snow tires on for ski area visits, but if you are staying in the lowlands you can sure take yours off! So what are we done with for this year?
- PORTLAND HAS NEVER SEEN AN ALL-DAY-LONG SNOW/ICE EVENT AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH. You know, an event that shuts down the city. That’s through 84 years of weather records! And next week will be warm-ish. So that’s an easy call.
- WE’VE NEVER SEEN A DAMAGING ARCTIC BLAST AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH
- WE CAN GET A MORNING LOWLAND SNOWFALL IN MARCH, OR EVEN EARLY APRIL. But life continues as normal with highs in the 40s or even 50.
We all remember April 10/11th 2022 (four years ago) when Portland set its latest snowfall on record with 1.6″ in the city and up to 5-8″ in the hills. Yet it reached 50 degrees that afternoon!
Interesting, remarkable, and historic, but it didn’t affect MOST of our lives much in the lowlands and roads were fine by midday even in the snowy spots. That was a real freak occurrence; first time in 80 years that occurred in the city in April. Then early morning April 12th, a year later, a dusting to several inches fell in central Clark county, although none fell in the rest of the metro. PDX dropped to 37 that morning with rain showers and it hit 53 that afternoon. Which brings up the question…
- When it snows in April, is it “winter”? or…
- When it’s 95 degrees in mid-May, is it “summer”? or…
- When it snows in mid-November, is it “winter”? or…
- When it’s 65 and sunny in February, is it “spring”?
The answer is NO to all of these, don’t be silly.
It can snow in spring, it can be hot in spring/fall, it can feel like spring in February, but we still call it spring, fall, and winter…