Scattered showers today, dry and warm over the weekend

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – Cloudy and rainy day today will be the last one of the Summer.  Scattered rain and a few isolated storms, mainly east of the region, will define the day as the mercury in the thermometer will struggle to get out of the upper 50s.

The rain will linger through the evening before tapering off overnight. The rain will be light and soaking into the soil nicely, and although will not get us out of our extreme drought scenario, we need any moisture we can get.

The Drought Monitor is released every Thursday and today’s report show virtually no change from last week to this week. Still seeing around 76% in the Extreme Drought category across the Tri-Counties of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson.

Moving into the weekend Central Oregon will be the drying out process Friday as the region returns to normal as far as high temperatures are concerned. Highs will be in the middle 70s Friday under mostly sunny skies by the mid-morning time frame.

Saturday will be a warm and sunny day with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. This will be the last Saturday of summer 2026 and it will feel like a warm mid-summer day.

Expect the mercury to rise a couple of degrees on Sunday as the dry and warm pattern continues. A ridge of high pressure builds off the coast and provides the warmer pattern. Monday will be similar to Sunday as the warmth remains.

While all this is going on, an area of low pressure develops in the Eastern Pacific and will slide south of Oregon early next week. This feature should not impact the warmup of the area, but may cycle back across eastern Oregon Tuesday and provide a few clouds along with cooler conditions.

Speaking of Tuesday, Autumn begins on Tuesday as the direct rays of the sun cross the equator at 5:05 pm pacific time. This is known as the Autumnal Equinox and marks the day when we have equal parts daylight and darkness. After Tuesday there will be longer nights and shorter daylight hours.

Tuesday also sees a slightly cooler pattern arrive with highs in the middle 70s. Sky conditions will be partly cloudy. This will repeat on Wednesday, but just a couple degrees cooler in the low 70s.

Please, Stay safe and smart.

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