WEATHER SUMMARY FOR SOUTHERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA The storm hit as expected yesterday. Most areas saw heavy rainfalls as expected, but the Rogue Valley was not one of those locations. Amounts here were lighter than expected with generally around .40 to .60 of an inch. But elsewhere, some very heavy rains were seen. Red Mound RAWS east of Brookings had 5 inches, but an observer living in Brookings had 6.5 inches in 24 hours at his house. The big surprise was the amount of rain that was seen east of the Cascades. Many locations went well over an inch. In Klamath Falls amounts were generally around a half inch. These were very healthy rainfall totals and badly needed over there. Wind was also a big factor. It took until last night for the strongest winds to hit. We did see gusts reported as high as 80 miles an hour at the Coast, and up to 70 miles an hour east of the Cascades. There were power outages as result in some areas. Trees also did fall and created hazards for drivers, especially at the coast. For today things are already calming down in terms of wind. The strongest winds are east of the Cascades with gusts to 55 miles an hour still being seen there. Breezy to gusty conditions are being seen elsewhere. Expect the winds to die off by this afternoon. Snow is now going to be a major player for the rest of today and into tonight. It was known that snow levels in the mountains would fall behind the main frontal band and there would be accumulating snow. The big question was how much and the timing. We have that this morning. Snow levels will be around 5000 feet to start things off today. It looks like 6 - 12 inches of snow will fall in the Cascades with 4 - 8 inches for the Siskiyous. That caused a Winter Weather Advisory to be issued through 10 pm tonight. Snow levels will drop to around 4000 feet this evening. This is going to lead to accumulating snows down to 4000 feet, but accumulations will be lighter. 1 - 4 inches for the Cascades, and a trace to 2 inches for the Siskiyous. This obviously will cause issues for travelers through the passes. Expect packed snow and icy conditions in the Cascades, with a possibility of chain requirements for vehicles over 10,000 pounds gvw, or towing. As for the Siskiyou Summit on I 5 there is still uncertainty. We might see snow fall thgere and icy roads develop, but it is not looking to be a major issue at this time. When we reach Sunday there will be improvement that will last through Thanksgiving Day. A ridge will build in on Sunday, and then it will strengthen further for Tuesday through Thanksgiving. We will have morning low clouds and fog for the valleys west of the Cascades. That should come as no surprise as we are in the fog season. I am not anticipating problems for those flying out of Medford at this point, but that could change. Travel ahead of Thanksgiving for those driving should be largely problem free. The data is pointing to a system coming in for Black Friday and it looks like we will see a resumption of stormy weather. This will have impacts likely for those traveling back home after Thanksgiving. The timing and strength of these systems is still being worked out, but it looks to be a safe bet that some rain and mountain snow will be arriving to wrap up November and kick off December.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 18:50:37 +0000
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