Dry through at least midday Saturday, turning colder too

The dry weather was nice today after a wet weekend and temperatures were right around normal…mid-upper 40s.

We don’t have any rain in the forecast for another 4-5 days, the next chance is not until Saturday evening. For the next two days we’ll see a mix of fog, clouds, & sunshine. With no wind tomorrow, any overnight fog/clouds will likely linger much of the day. That means you can assume we’ll have a mainly gray Tuesday and be pleasantly surprised if/when the sun breaks out at your home. If you really NEED sunshine, head up into the Cascades.

On Wednesday an easterly wind develops through the Columbia River Gorge and spills out into the metro area. That should be enough to push the fog/clouds out of the metro area for a much brighter afternoon.

The good news is that the period of strong easterly wind we’ve been expecting is now just two days total. Expect a gusty east wind both Thursday and Friday, but then it goes away Saturday. That also brings all-day sunshine those two days, and part of Saturday too. Overnight low temperatures will fall well down into the 20s in calm areas, but not “pipe-busting” cold. High temperatures will only be in the 40-45 degree range even with the sunshine.

A pattern change arrives late Saturday through Monday as colder air from the north dives south from Canada and into the Pacific Northwest. The million dollar question right now…will really cold air make it down to Oregon Sunday or Monday? Models are in great disagreement on that, and also whether any moisture would interact with that cold air and give us sticking snow to sea level. We will be watching closely! Regardless, we’re in for some sort of chillier weather early next week.