By Rod Hill on 2020-12-16
A quick rain and mountain snow update with numbers posted through Monday December 14th. October, November and December to date all show below normal rainfall for the season at PDX. The graphic shows Portland mean temperature just shy of a full degree above normal for the period.
The graphic below shows Mt. Hood resorts at present showing nearly twice the snow base of 2019 at this time. The current snowpack at 5,400 feet is 87% of normal. While the snow numbers are decent, they fall short of the La Nina "booming" projection calling for 100% of normal snowpack or more for the season ending April 30th.
The point of posting this article is to report a somewhat disturbing trend of weakening fronts since the final week of November. Although this December is beginning to see more active wet weather, I still feel it is likely PDX will post another month below climate average in terms of total moisture.
Wind Advisory for strong east winds near the gorge