Warming up and drying out into the weekend
Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – Drying out and warming up as we head into the last weekend of February as Saturday is the last day of the month. The weather patterns will feel more “spring-like” the rest of the week with warmer air arriving. There will be some lingering overcast skies today, but this regime should come to an end, and the sunny pattern will arrive Thursday.
The Atmospheric River that provided the rainfall yesterday has shifted south, but the northern edge of the cloud shield is still over the southern third of Oregon. The overcast skies will yield to the sunshine this afternoon, giving the region a chance to get into the 50s.
Thursday will be mostly sunny and dry with highs in the 50s. An area of high pressure at the surface and a will keep the skies clear and allow the temps to warm up.
In the upper levels of the atmosphere a ridge of high pressure will try to build north the rest of the week. This will be a tough task as the jet stream is providing a near west to east flow that will stall the northern migration of the ridge. Meanwhile an area of low pressure spins well off the coast. The end result will be above normal temperatures due to the ridge, but not to much above normal, possible only about 10-degrees.
On Friday the ridge will go as far north as it can before getting pushed east by the low over the Pacific. The result will be temps near 60 with partly sunny skies and west winds.
Saturday will bring in some cloud cover and there may be some showers south of our Tri-Counties. Officially I am calling Saturday variably cloudy and slightly cooler. Sunday may be the next chance for some rain, albeit light.
Sunday is the beginning of the meteorological spring, the period of March, April, and May. These months indicate the official record keeping months for what we meteorologists define as Spring due to the consistency of the dates. The Astronomical Spring begins this year on March 20th, at 7:46 am pacific time, the Vernal Equinox. That is when the direct rays of the sun are over the Equator, equal daylight and darkness.
Please, Stay safe.
Don’t forget to download the Local Alert Weather App to stay connected with our team of meteorologists.
You can get access to LIVE radar and receive urgent weather alerts so you’re always prepared.
