Gusty East Wind Returns

Good morning! It’s a cold & dry start to the day across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Be prepared to scrape some frost off your windshield, especially if you live in a wind-sheltered location (away from the Gorge). We also have dense fog forming, mainly to the south and north of the metro area. The big weather story though will be the return of the east wind. The strongest wind will be felt near the mouth of the Gorge. Cities on the west end of the Gorge will likely experience gusts between 45-55+ mph. The east side of the metro area will also endure pretty gusty wind, in the ballpark of 30-45 mph. Outside of those areas, it’ll just breezy with intermittent gusts up to 20-30 mph. Due to the offshore nature of the wind, our air will be very dry. Expect temperatures to climb into the low to mid 50s. A few spots along the coast could reach 60 degrees with the help of compressional heating (air coming down the slopes of the Coast Range and pushing offshore).

It looks like the wind will stay pretty gusty through Wednesday morning, but should briefly calm down after midday. Temperatures will be a bit warmer each day through Wednesday as high pressure builds overhead. By Thursday, another batch of cold air will pour across the Intermountain West and Interior Northwest. This should reinforce that dry and gusty east wind, so prepare for more of it by Thursday and Friday.

High pressure looks like it will break down this weekend, opening the door to more cloud cover and increasing rain chances. Computer models and their ensembles are in pretty good agreement that rain should return sometime between late Sunday & early next week.

Have a great Monday!

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