Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pendleton, OR
Issued by NWS Pendleton, OR
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567 FXUS66 KPDT 081723 AFDPDT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 923 AM PST Fri Nov 8 2024 Updated aviation discussion .SHORT TERM...Today through Sunday...Very little to note on satellite and radar imagery tonight as an upper level ridge over the PacNW provides dry and calm conditions. The upper ridge will slowly push east today, allowing a shortwave trough to arrive to the PacNW by tomorrow morning and pass over the region through Sunday morning. Surface pressure gradients will tighten across the Blues later this evening ahead of the shortwave trough arrival, resulting in breezy winds (gusts 25-35mph) developing in the southern Grande Ronde valley tonight. Snow levels will remain fairly high between 5.5kft to 7kft with the passage of this system, resulting mostly in snow along the higher peaks of mountain areas. This will result in mostly rain and a rain/snow mix across many mountain locations tomorrow, with a probability of 50-60% of at least 0.1 inches of QPF along the northern Blues and OR Cascade crest; probability of 0.25 inches along the WA Cascade crest is 65-80%. While light rain showers will develop over the lower elevations, probabilities for any measurable rainfall through Saturday night in central OR and the Columbia Basin and adjacent valleys is only 40-55%, while foothill locations are 55-70%. A brief period of dry conditions will develop the first half of Sunday as a transient ridge quickly moves across the PacNW. Behind it, an approaching upper trough with a frontal system will push a weak warm front across the PacNW, resulting in precipitation chances increasing across the Cascade crest by the mid to late afternoon. The warm sector will lift across the forecast area Sunday evening and overnight, increasing chances of rain and high mountain snow east of the Cascades. By the end of Sunday night, the Cascade crest will see a 70-90% chance of 0.5 inches of QPF, with the best chances along central WA Cascade crest; snow levels will generally remain above 6kft in the mountains, with a less than 25% chance of measurable snowfall at the pass levels. In the northern Blues, chances of only 0.25 inches of QPF are between 40-50%, with precipitation occurring mostly as rain through Sunday. Pressure gradients across the eastern mountains will tighten ahead of the trough and cold front arrival to the intermountain PacNW, resulting in breezy south to southeast winds (gusts 15-25mph) developing through the southern Grande Ronde valley, central OR, and the Blue Mountain foothills Sunday night. Lawhorn/82 .LONG TERM...Monday through Friday...The long term remains progressive in nature as passing systems should keep us active in regards to precipitation and winds, but the positioning of these systems will bring temperatures up several degrees and sustain a period of warmer than average highs and lows until then end of the forecast period when deep troughing should finally bring us back to near normal temperatures in the region. The long term begins with a deep upper low off of the Canadian coastline bringing a trough and occluding frontal boundary across the region. As this system passes us by, flow will become generally zonal on Tuesday under weak transient ridging, but by Thursday we`ll be back to southwesterly flow aloft as another deep upper low approaches and moves into the region by Friday, with much deeper troughing over the entire West Coast expected that will then place us under northerly to northwesterly flow aloft to end the period. Under this pattern, primary sensible weather concerns lie in mountain snow and surface winds. Daily snow totals in the mountains of several inches are expected, lying between elevations of 4-6+ thousand feet, lowering or increasing between periods of cooler and warmer temperatures aloft with the passing systems. These may be low enough in elevation and enough total accumulation to promote some highlights, but these will likely be advisory level at best if they do occur. The lower elevations won`t fully miss out, though this will mostly be relegated to rainfall, with QPF totals across our population centers through the entire period between 0.3-1.5 inches, highest in the Columbia Gorge as well as our mid-elevation locations. But these QPF totals will be over the full 5 day period, with only light to occasionally moderate rainfall expected day to day. Finally, these ebbing pressure gradients should help produce breeziness in the winds, generally impacting our windier locations such as through the Cascade gaps and into the Columbia Basin, but overall model ensembles do not highlight significant concerns for stronger gusts. There is moderate confidence (50-60%) in the long term forecast, hindered by discrepancies in the overall features evolving across our region. Ensembles all highlight these features as being expected, but differentiate between the strength and depth of them. This notably comes into play with the end-week system, as 23% of members move this system inland faster and a bit weaker overall, and 6% of members have completely jumped the shark and show no troughing at all. Both of these solutions are outliers though, and the major clusters indicate a deep trough encompassing the west coast on Friday. Expect a wet and (seasonably) mild to warm week as highs in our population centers range in the 50`s with overnight lows in the mid 30`s to mid 40`s, finally dropping to more seasonably normal temperatures by Friday (40`s to 40`s for highs and near to below freezing lows). Goatley/87 && .AVIATION...18Z TAFs...VFR conditions expected over the next 24 hours with some SCT-BKN200-250 lowering to 150-200 Saturday. Some fog may be possible near PSC overnight through Saturday morning. Winds 10 knots or less all sites. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 52 33 54 39 / 0 0 0 30 ALW 52 35 55 42 / 0 0 0 40 PSC 50 36 53 40 / 0 0 0 20 YKM 53 33 52 33 / 0 0 10 20 HRI 52 35 54 41 / 0 0 0 20 ELN 52 33 52 33 / 0 0 10 30 RDM 62 34 57 35 / 0 0 0 20 LGD 54 35 53 39 / 0 0 0 40 GCD 61 34 59 38 / 0 0 0 30 DLS 56 38 58 43 / 0 0 10 30 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...82 LONG TERM....87 AVIATION...87