Mother's day brings more cool showery weather to the Northwest, but this time, it gets blown out by a long warm spell that transforms into a hot weather. If it seems early for 90° weather, I think it's because it's been so cool for so long. April 2008 was the coolest April in the Willamette Valley since the mid-70s. People aren't mentally prepared for the weather to get so warm so suddenly. Here's a look at the first 90° day of the last few years:

 So it's certainly not unusual to get a 90° day or two in May. In fact most of Portland's high temperature records are in the 90s in May. If the warm to hot weather is a shock, the dry weather should be too. Portland's had a dry spell drought since late January!

If you're a cool weather fan, enjoy the weekend, because the heat is on after that!

Matt Zaffino

Chief Meteorologist

KGW Newschannel 8

Our  6pm producer Carol McClain, spent 10 minutes berating me over going into the Columbia River Gorge Saturday & getting rained on. Then Frank, our chief web guru decided to pour salt into the wound. Frank took his brand new carbon fiber bicycle out for a spin around town. After a soaking wet ride Frank came home and spent Saturday evening cleaning the dirt and grit off his brand new carbon fiber bicycle. Oops!

To all of you who got caught outside in the wet and cooler than forecasted weather on Saturday, take heart. I feel your pain. I to got caught in the middle of several rain squalls along the Clackamas River. I came home looking and feeling like a drowned rat. I went back to the forecast and tried to figure out where I went wrong.

Regards

Dave

...to the Northwest! =)  Despite the rain, and sometimes because of it, I love it out here.

I think last night I had one of those Oregonian experiences.  Even though there had been clouds rolling through throughout the day yesterday, and there was a chance there'd be a lot more at the coast, I decided to drive the hour and a half just to see some sunshine on the Pacific.

When I got there, I quickly realized it was what I had been yearning for for quite some time.  After a long, cold, and wet winter, seeing that sun on the ocean was just perfect - definitely worth the $25 I blew in gas.  =)  I'm already looking forward to July 4.  =)

Here's the photo I shot on my cell phone...

For those of you that are clamoring for summer, I highly recommend a quick escape to the coast, even if you only spend an hour there.  Don't forget to get some ice cream for that walk along the beach.  =)

Joe

Patience is a virtual my mother keeps saying. Many of us are running out of patience when it comes to the weather this spring. Hang on just another few days and your patience will be rewarded

We're going to see another day of mostly cloudy and showery conditions. Temperatures again today about 10 degrees below average.

Dispite the clouds, showers and cool temperatures the overall trend shows improvement. This weekend high pressure will block more storms from arriving and allow for a dry and mild weekend. Temperatures may crack the 60 degree barrier by Friday. This weekend Temperatures will actually rise above normal for this time of year, for only the 5th & 6th times this month

Patience grasshopper-patience. Spring will come.

Dave

This weekend we'll be flirting with record low high temperatures and snow at low elevations. How low will the snow go? I think 500 to 1000ft, where an inch or more is possible. The Coast Range and Cascades will see several inches of snow, maybe up to a foot at higher location

Temperatures will plunge by the weekend, highs will be in the middle to upper 40s. A new .
record low high is possible Saturday.

Temperatures and the cold rain will gradually moderate by the first part of next week. By next Wedesday we should see high temperatures near normal. Bottom Line... Mother Nature continues to mess with us!

Regards
Dave

Listening to my fellow broadcasters share stories about Jim at his memorial service on Monday brought back a flood of memories and some new realizations. Like the reason I carry but don't wear my suit jacket in to work: I got that habit from Jim. He said it saved wear and tear. I forgot about that, it's just what I do. Because of Jim. My leather briefcase, that carries a lot of junk I don't need to tote around all time. Jim. He needed a bag for the battery of books he'd preview for AM Northwest. Me? I still do it because Jim did it. I'd forgotten about that until Monday. My co-workers at KGW have I'm sure grown tired of my smart-aleck response of "I'll be the judge of that" to everything from how much time I'll have for my weathercast to how nice a day it is. I got that from Jim too. Every time I say it, I think of Jim. On the air, I sometimes blow off the anchors weather comment toss to me, to make some hopefully funny remark about the story right before weather. Another habit I got from Jim. He was the master of that. Even if it didn't always work he could get away with it because he was The Boz. I'm merely tolerated. But it always reminds me of Jim and the zillion things he taught me. When I got to KATU I was a good meteorologist, passionate for sure about Northwest weather. But Jim made me a broadcaster. Over the nine years we worked together, we grew very close. He was at times exasperating but always inspiring. He could be incredibly self-centered, but rarely selfish. I walked into the weather center one day and he was rubbing his bald head like he used to. He was reading a letter from a viewer, holding something in his hands and seemed a bit perplexed. I asked "What's up, Jim?" He was holding the ugliest pair of cuff links I think either one of us had ever seen. The viewer wrote that these belonged to her dead husband and she wanted Jim to have them. We had a bit of a chuckle about how odd that was, but Jim was really struggling with how to respond to the widow. He wrote her a kind and supportive letter. I don't recall exactly what he said but I remember reading it and thinking "that's brilliant". What to do with the dead husband's cufflinks? He gave them to me, probably just to get rid of them in a non-disrespectful way. I still have those cuff links.

When I left KATU for KGW, more than a few people questioned the move. KATU had been and was still number one at the time. Jim's response: "That's terrific!." I knew Jim well enough to know this was one of his standard lines. He once told me; if I was asked in a newspaper interview or by anyone about a co-worker, just say "They're terrific!" And he could sell it like no one else. So I knew he was just being supportive. But that was Jim. He helped me through divorce, relationship ups and downs and getting bounced around at KATU. He relished the stories of my outdoor adventures and pushed me to do fun Mr. Science bits on the air. He's the reason I started doing hits for KINK radio.

As the years went on we kept in touch, but not as much as I should have. We talked several months ago and he told me about the mis-diagnosis of his health, and how he was doing much better. I knew as soon as we spoke that he was doing much better because he sounded like Jim again. It lifted my spirits to hear it. He called me about three weeks before he left this world. He wanted to know if I was mad at him. What?!, I thought. He said he asked because he hadn't heard from me in a long time and we had been really good friends. "No no, Jim, I could never be mad at you, I'll call you soon and we'll get together." I didn't know he was sick again. I'll be mad at myself for that for a long time. I'm just plain sad that I didn't get to see him, laugh with him and be inspired by him one more time. We, or I at least, can get so wrapped up in our own life's trials and tribulations that we don't take or make the time to check in on the one's who are important to us. I know I'm not the only one guilty of this. But this is one of the greatest things I learned from Jim: It doesn't take a lot of effort to make someone feel special. Jim did it so seamlessly, through both the camera lens and in person that it seemed effortless. It was certainly effortless for him when it came to his wife Karen. I will always admire how wonderfully in love he was with her and how beautifully he treated her. So to "My Friend" as Jim often said when greeting people, I say thank you. Thank you for taking me under your wing, for teaching me about television, for sharing with me your many passions and joys in life. Knowing and working with you enriched my life beyond what words can say. You made me a better broadcaster, but more importantly you made me a better person.

Matt Zaffino
KGW Chief Meteorologist

Since a lot of you will be outside basking in the sun make sure you're using sun screen. A pasty face white boy like me takes about 30 minutes before I start to burn. Trust me the results of not using sun screen is no fun. I've been carved on 3 times by my doctor to remove pre-cancerous moles.

I don't want to nag but wear sun glasses too. My Vintage 80's Don Johnson, Wayfarers not only look cool (I actually have the same pair my wife bought me back in 1990) but keep my eyes being damaged by the sun.

Bottom line enjoy the sun and warm weather. I think rain is set to return as soon as Sunday night.

Dave

It is that intangable something that causes the viewers to watch a certain person. For almost 35 years Jim, was likely the most recognized television personality in Portland. What you saw on the air was the same Jim off camera. He was warm, open and a genuine nice guy.

I remember seeing him when I would be living at my moms house in Corvallis and later here in Portland in the late 1960s and early 70s. I was captivated by his warm and easy on air manner. He made the complex subject of meteorology simple and easy to understand.

I met Jim, for the first time in 1990. Willamette Week was doing on Portland weather anchors. I had just started working here at KGW about a year before. In those days KGW was at the bottom of the ratings, KATU number one in the market and Jim Bosley, was one of the main reasons. K2 was the power house in Portland TV. Jim came strolling in weather a Hawaiian shirt and flip flops.( He had a style all his own.) During the shoot I told him about growing up and watching him when I was 12 years old and how I alway wanted to me weatherman because of him. He laughed that big baritone laugh of his an just shook his head.

Over the years I saw Jim, on and off when ever we would meet he would remember the story of the first time we met. The last time I saw him was about 4 years ago. Rod Gramer, The News Director here at KGW brought Jim, into the station to try to lure him out of retirement and get him work for us on a part-time fill in basis. Even years after retirement Jim, still had that kind of name recognition with Portland viewers. Jim, turned us down happy to spend most time in in studio working on his artwork

I will miss the Boz he was truly a legend

Dave

This week it's different, the weather pattern is finally turning around and looking a little more like spring. High pressure is developing off the Pacific Coast. The ridge should hold through the first part of the weekend. Combine the Ridge and longer hours of daylight temperatures should have no reaching the low 60s. Overnight lows will fall back to the 30s and low 40s.

As you can see from the 7 day forecast I don't expect any changes until later in the weekend. The rain on Sunday is really just a chance of some showers developing late in the day.

Regards
Dave

The latest BIG snowfall was no joke, it happened on April Fools Day also in downtown Portland:

But here are some of the snow totals from around the area from March 28, topped by Buxton in the Coast Range:

Perhaps even more incredible is what is happening in the Cascades. Mt Hood Meadows Ski Resort set a new ALL TIME season snowfall record on Friday:

What's interesting about this is the old record was set during the MASSIVE El Nino of 1982-83. If you're thinking" "Now wait a minute, El Nino's usually bring warm dry winters to the Northwest!", you're right. Usually, they do. But the 1982-83 El Nino was SO strong, it kept the entire West Coast under the storm gun all winter. Remember the homes in Mailbu, CA sliding off cliffs into the ocean?

So the El Nino record has been surpassed by a La Nina year, appropiately enough. We expect a lot of mountain snow in La Nina years like this. I was living in Salt Lake City in 1982-83, enjoying record snowfall and great powder days at Alta Ski Area in the Wasatch Mountains. But I'd venture to guess that this year, the skiing in the Northwest has been better than it was in 1982-83, because we've had so many days with low elevation snow. That means the snow at the ski areas is colder, drier and fluffier, which makes for better skiing.

And the Cascades get more snow this weekend. The hits just keep on coming.

Feel free to post YOUR snow totals and observations of our wild weather here. Love to hear about them!

Matt Zaffino
KGW Chief Meteorologist

The snow level looks to stay around 1,000 feet from now through Friday - but in heavier showers, some snow could fall all the way down to the surface. We saw that earlier today, with reports of snow in Southeast Portland, Camas, and Cannon Beach. There was also snow at the Oregon Zoo and near the Terwilliger curves.

Update - 7:00am, Tuesday

It looks like the snow levels will be as low as 1,000 feet late tonight and tomorrow morning, and down to 500 feet overnight tomorrow night. Accumulations should be fairly light, though, and the roads below 1,000 feet should stay clear of ice - it'll just be a bit too warm.

Original Blog from Monday

Boy oh boy - it seems mother nature is teasing us this year! Spring is officially here, but it may be feeling more like winter this week.

Several inches of snow have fallen at the ski resorts today, and the snow level is expected to drop to 2,000 feet overnight. So the passes will be turning a bit messy. But the snow level won't be stopping there.

Government Camp Highway 26 Camera, 6:30pm Today

The computer models are trying to show an area of low pressure developing and dropping down across the Northwest. If it drops far enough south, the snow levels could drop down to 1,000 feet Wednesday into Thursday. I know that sounds wild, but it's what the models are saying.

So...we'll be watching and waiting in the Severe Weather Center. Could there be some spring snow for Portland's highest hills?

Joe

Photo Courtesy Marywood University
Combine our warming temperatures with some sunshine, budding trees, and pink flowers, and it may be feeling like spring. But temperatures may not stay so nice.

The Climate Prediction Center - a government forecast agency - issues three-month outlooks. And their outlook for the Pacific Northwest is a cool one. In fact, for the three-month period of March through May, the CPC says temperatures will likely be below average. It seems La Nina isn't done playing with our weather just quite yet.

So how chilly will it be? Well - that's why this is an outlook! =) It just gives an idea of the general trend to come over the next several months. The exact details - like how cool it will be and when - are left to guys and gails like me to figure out.

I'll keep you posted! Personally, I'm hoping the outlook is wrong...and that it actually ends up being warmer-than-average this spring. =)

Joe

We are going to get a taste of some spring like weather over the next few days. High pressure is returning to the region forcing the storm track into Alaska.

The drier upper air pattern will allow for fair skies over the next few days. Once a pattern like this builds it takes a while for it to break down. We've seen this on and off for the past 6 weeks. The last time we had a significant rain event in Portland. I call that a more than 3/4 of an inch of rain was on January 30th.

Does this mean our cold wet weather is over? Certainly not. But our chance of snow is just about nil from now on and we're going to see temperatures continue to increase. Our average high by early April will be 60 degrees.

Regards
Dave

The guy in the picture is my best friend Henry, We've know each for.... well longer than both of us care to remember. I'll put it this way I had a full head of hair and Henry didn't have gray in his. Anyway Henry flys a helicopter and lives in Alaska. Tough life!

Earlier this week he sends me a picture with a smug look on his face after he landed on a glacier. Wrong he says I landed in the glacier, wait a minute Henry, nobody lands in a glacier... Look below

The Picture is at the bottom of the White Out Glacier, it's about 75 miles north and a litte east of Anchorage. We all know the arctic ice pack is melting and many glaciers like the White Out are retreating. You can now fly and land a helicopter (if you're very careful) in a hole at the very bottom of the glacier.

Not only has Henry gone were few have gone before but he's also gone back in time. The ice walls surrounding the landing site are several stories high meaning ol' Henry and his helicoptor are resting on Ice that's not hundred or even thousands but millions of years old!

Strange he doesn't look a day over 500,000 does he!

Regards
Dave