What Will This Winter Be Like?

The Oregon Chapter American Meteorological Society met in Portland to discuss the upcoming winter with local and regional experts. A standing room only crowd of 350 people were in attendance.  The end result of this abundance of weather expertise is the Forecast Synopsis, which we have shared below:

Forecast Synopsis

“With a moderate to strong La Nina well underway, the majority of experts at today’s annual forecast meeting predict a wetter and cooler than normal winter overall for Oregon. Snow pack in the Cascades is likely to be at or above normal this winter. In some analog (similar) years in the past, the Cascades have experienced near record snow amounts. George Taylor, Applied Climate Services Climatologist, LLC, Corvallis, Oregon, says, “wet, wild and windy weather is in store for the coming winter.” Pete Parsons, Oregon Department of Forestry Meteorologist, Salem, Oregon says, “this winter is likely to be markedly different from last year. Parsons went on to say, “I would be surprised if we made it through this winter without seeing at least one arctic air mass and low elevation snow event.” Tyree Wilde, NOAA-National Weather Service WC Meteorologist, Portland says, “wet, wet, wet this winter.” Forecasters also noted that it has been 15 years since the last major windstorm to strike Oregon on December 12th 1995, which was also a La Nina winter that featured a record setting flood, arctic air and snow.

So, there you have it, looks like umbrellas, tire chains and preparedness kits are top priority for the Christmas list.   I'm sure the kids will understand!