Karl Bonner

A new calendar year has begun, and a week-long cold spell in the Pacific Northwest is ending (at least for the West Side!).  A push of milder air and south wind has begun today, which should lead to classic […]

Merry Christmas!  As I write this around 10am, it’s 37 degrees outside in my Orchards neighborhood with light rain.  I don’t see any signs of slush mixing in…but I imagine a few hundred feet up in the hills a f […]

It’s been the buzz of Pacific Northwest weather geeks for several days now.  And at this point, models are zeroing in on the basic pattern.  So it’s time to say:

Our region is looking at a significant winter c […]

Ahhh!  Nothing says winter in the Pacific Northwest quite like cold valley rain, heavy Cascade snow…and occasional teases of snow at lower elevations.  Last night (Monday) was the first time this season we saw s […]

It’s the last night of November and the end of meteorological autumn in the Northern Hemisphere!  As of the 29th, it was the 3rd warmest November in PDX history, at 50.2 degrees F (about 3.0F warmer than […]

After a very stormy couple of weeks for the Pacific Northwest, the weather is calming down this Friday evening.  It’s always refreshing to see weather geeks get back into “storm mode” each fall, and last week […]

It’s October and the weather is just about as boring as it can get.  Other than relatively chilly temps and the possibility of snow over the Cascade passes the next couple days, there’s nothing meteorologically […]

Hard to believe we’re only a few hours away from the first heavy rain event in Portland, since last winter!  It’s been an incredibly dry 6 1/2 months; our spring (March-May) was by far the driest on record, and […]

Hopefully you were able to make the most out of this chaotic and hot summer!  While I didn’t get to go storm chasing or camping or any “top tier” activities, I did get in several one- to two-day trips, including […]

Hopefully everyone here has been able to enjoy the (mostly) smoke-free weather in Northwest Oregon and SW Washington this summer!  Sadly, I’ve been having knee problems ever since the beginning of July, limiting […]

For the past several days, there has been much speculation about the upcoming heatwave for the last weekend of June.  Would it be just “really really hot,” or would this prove to be the MOTHER OF ALL HEATWAVES […]

Welcome to Summer 2021, or at least the meteorological definition.  There’s a longstanding confusion in the United States, as to which calendar format we should use for  defining seasons.  Several decades ago it […]

People across the Pacific Northwest are beginning to get very worried. The spring of 2021 has been the driest on record since March 1 in many places. PDX has received only 2.01″ of rainfall as of May 14.  Normal […]

(Cover photo credit: Clifford Paguio Jr.)

If you garden or have been outdoors recently, you’re probably aware of what a dry spring it has been in Portland and the northern Willamette Valley. In many years, […]

(cover photo credit: Grant McFarland)

I am not a professional meteorologist, and have never taken an atmospheric science course.  There are times when I wonder what it would be like to have taken that path […]

Those of us who have lived in the Pacific Northwest most or all of our lives, used to see February as the  “beginning of the end” of our normal winter season.  Historically it tends to be the warmest of the t […]

I hope your 2021 has been happy, safe and fun so far! It’s been a very tough year for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed too many lives; and caused too much despair and loneliness to bear. But wi […]

(Stock flood image courtesy of CorvallisOregon.gov)

The past week in NW Oregon has seen a fairly active winter pattern pick up. Several wet systems and cool enough airmasses for real Cascade snow last weekend. […]