Mark Nelsen
Chief Meteorologist
Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen can be found forecasting weather in most of our evening newscasts. That could be 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m., or the 11 p.m. shows. Or sometimes ALL of them.
Mark is a Pacific Northwest “local." He’s spent all of his adult life and almost all of his childhood within a 2 hour drive of Portland.
BORN: Hood River, OR
SCHOOL YEARS: Mt. Angel, OR and Chehalis, WA
COLLEGE: University of Washington. B.S. Atmospheric Science
Mark is proud to be a “weather geek” and we all know what that means! He was one of those kids that turned in late homework because he spent too much time staring out the window.
He tried for several TV jobs straight out of college in the early 1990s but they all told him he “looked like a teenager." Instead Mark took a short stint at a small local company forecasting wind in the Columbia River Gorge. Once he looked like an adult... at 24, Mark was hired by KOIN-TV then moved to FOX 12 in 2000. That’s 28 years on Portland TV!
You might be surprised to find out Mark is a “country person," living only a few brief years in cities. He lives with his wife and two kids near Corbett on farm/forest land. They have quite a few chickens, ducks, and two cats. Mark loves to grow things too. A dozen apple, pear and peach trees are surrounded by berries and a summer garden each year.
One quirk? Mark gets annoyed when you spell his name NelsOn instead of NelsEn. It’s an E not an O!
You can find more from Mark on his very popular FOX 12 Weather Blog.
In the central/eastern Columbia River Gorge we expect 1-5" snow overnight through about 10 a.m. tomorrow. The Cascades pick up 6-10" of new snow by sunrise Friday.
A wet and (eventually) warm weather pattern is arriving just in time for December. Before the warm air arrives this weekend we expect several feet of snow in the Cascades and a few inches in the central/eastern Columbia River Gorge
Multiple days of sunshine have been nice, but now as we roll into December a much wetter and milder pattern looms. The transition period means a lot of snow for the Cascades
We have one more mainly sunny day on the way Tuesday, and those of you exposed to the strong easterly wind from the Gorge will see it calm down a bit. Rain returns Thursday
Rain? Where? There's no chance for rain west of the Cascades until at least next Wednesday, the 29th. Enjoy the mainly sunny Thanksgiving holiday weekend!
A slow weather pattern for meteorologists means we've got a surprisingly sunny Thanksgiving weekend forecast, plus a look further ahead into early December
Showers are ending this evening, and now we expect dry weather through Tuesday evening. But, surprisingly, lots of sunshine is on the way for the holiday weekend
Expect more sunshine with spots of morning fog & clouds Friday. Those of you that live east of I-205 will notice an increasingly gust east wind blowing out of the Gorge. That wind continues through Saturday morning
There's no sign of stormy weather, and we'll be drier than normal heading into next week and the big holiday weekend. A look at upcoming snow in the mountains too
We've got 2 days of dry weather ahead! But that doesn't mean all sunshine; some of us will lay under a layer of fog and clouds all day Thursday
Mark has spent 30 years forecasting on Portland television. He takes a look back at the changes, plus a few throwback pics!
It's been a nice and warm (for mid-November) Monday with lots of sunshine. Tomorrow will be a bit grayer with widespread clouds and fog in the morning followed by some afternoon sunshine.
Rain is arriving right on schedule this evening, but it won't last long. Expect just light scattered showers after 8pm or so and then more dry than wet Friday
Skies remain clear tonight, but that allows spots of dense fog to develop for the Thursday morning commute. Rain from the next weather system arrives in the I-5 corridor around sunset on Thursday
It's back to regular showers the rest of this evening as the breezy southerly wind dies down as well
We've been somewhat "lucky" today, avoiding any funnel clouds, waterspouts, or tornadoes. In fact we've seen very few thunderstorms. The chance for any of these disappears quickly after sunset at 5pm
We are in First Alert Weather mode this evening through Monday evening as downpours and scattered thunderstorms arrive
You may be surprised that some parts of the metro area get almost double the rain than other parts. Let's take a closer look at yearly average rainfall
Radar shows a wall of rain moving into western Oregon and southwest Washington late this afternoon. We expect about 1.00" rain by mid-morning Saturday...it's gonna be a soaker
What a change today! Warm and humid with a few scattered showers instead of downpours and chilly temps. We've got 24 hours dry before another soaking arrives Friday evening
Right on cue, as November arrives so has the rainy season. Plenty of rain ahead, although the daylight hours don't look so bad Thursday and Friday
It's a soaker this evening! A Pacific weather system slides inland tonight, dumping up to 1.00" of rain in the Portland metro area by sunrise. Areas to the south get less rain from Salem to Eugene.
The six day dry spell has been nice with abundant sunshine and warm afternoons. But November is just hours away and that means clouds plus rain in the Pacific Northwest
It's been a cold and wet midweek, but now we're moving on to lots of sunshine. But it won't be warm sunshine this time around
Showers end tonight, then we head into a week-long dry spell beginning Thursday. But this time the sunshine will be accompanied by cool days and cold nights
Expect lots of clouds this weekend, but not much rain. In fact your Saturday should be dry
Wondering what an "El Niño winter" means for skiing and snowboarding in the Cascades? Mark takes a look at what we might see in the mountains this winter.
Enjoy the next few days as temperatures soar into the 70s, probably for the last time this year. A few light showers appear later Saturday
Winter is quickly approaching, but what can we expect this year? Mark takes a deep dive into the possibilities during our first "El Niño winter" in 5 years.
Get ready for a Monday morning soaker! Then we dry out the rest of the week
After just a few sprinkles Sunday morning, we expect a warm day with increasing sunshine. In fact temperatures will be near/above normal through all of next week
Skies will be partly cloudy Saturday morning which means some of us will see the partial solar eclipse (in Portland) and some of us will not. It'll be an "annular" eclipse across the southern half of Oregon
We've got lots of tornado stats for you! For the first time in four months a weak tornado touched down in the region. You might be surprised to find out it was "right on time"
Soaking wet through Wednesday then drier late week.
High temperatures soared to around 90 along parts of the coastline today. The warm-hot weather continues for one more day inland, but cooling arrives at the beaches.
Temperatures have soared into the 80s west of the Cascades, and some spots along the beaches have even approached 90! Much cooler weather arrives at the beaches tomorrow and Sunday inland
Very warm weather has arrived and it's sticking around through the weekend, plus some gusty east wind too
After some much-needed rain, the sunshine and warm temperatures return the rest of this week. Plus a look at the nearly dead fire season
Drizzle finally ended this morning, and now we're headed into five dry days. Temperatures will reach into the 80s later this week as well
Cool and chilly to start the week. Warm and sunny through mid-week before the next round of showers begins.
We've got one more showery day, then we turn mainly dry heading into the weekend and early next week
Many of us have seen a soaking rain so far, others not so much. The numbers so far and what's ahead this week
Quite a change this week! A cool and showery airmass remains over the region much of the work week. It's makeup time for all that dry weather
A big change this weekend as a bomb cyclone well offshore sends some rain into the region. Take a look at why it won't turn stormy inland with this first Pacific storm of the season
It's been a beautiful and sunny day! But clouds and showers arrive this weekend.
Enjoy ONE more warm and sunny day, because lots of clouds and rain follows beginning this weekend. A much needed soaking is the story for the last week of September
You need to enjoy the warm and dry weather for these next two days, because a long series of cool/wet Pacific weather systems are scheduled to arrive next week
After four months of mainly dry weather, we finally see the first fall soaking on the way next week
It was a chilly start today, but afternoon temperatures popped up into the low 70s. Now we see a soaking ahead!
