By Rod Hill on 2011-02-06
I often tell people when the east coast is cold and nasty we are high and dry. Portland was 2 degrees above normal for January, Central Park, New York City was 2 degrees below normal. Portland snapped a 4 month consecutive streak of wet weather, the east coast got buried in cold and snow. PDX has enjoyed above normal temperatures 21 of the last 36 days.
Timberline Lodge received 307" of total snowfall through December 30th. Since that date, only 37" of snow has fallen. A base at the resort has fallen from near 100" to 68" on the ground.
An earlier Headline post talked about a possible wind shift that is pushing the jet stream track farther south than would be typical of La Nina. It is the southern storm track that has produced the massive snowstorms of the east and left us quiet and mild since the start of the year. Possible reason for a more southern storm track is wind flow variation possibly caused by shrinking ice over the Arctic region. (pretty interesting!)
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I continue to track a colder, more active weather pattern for the Northwest, starting this coming weekend. Much of next week, Feb. 12th - 18th looks wet with snow levels below Cascade passes.
Losing snow, gaining water