Here’s something I’ve noticed: every year when April hits Oregon and Washington most of us are shocked it’s still rainy and gray.
And we really do a double take when anyone mentions the chance for snowflakes.
 Even more surprising is what the records say in my graphic here.
Latest Snow In Downtown Portland
- Portland had 5″ of accumulation one time on April 1st (This is real. Not an April Fools joke!)
- Portland had .1″ (a tenth-of-an-inch) of accumulation on April 14th
- Portland had snowflakes fly (but not accumulate) as late as April 26th. C-r-a-z-y!
Here it is April 6th and I think the snow level will generally be about 1,500′ – 2,000′ with a couple inches of snow possible on Coast Range passes tonight.
But as I mentioned last night during my weathercast on KOIN Local 6, heavier showers cool the air and temporarily bring snow even lower. If we have some good showers today, that means seeing snowflakes fly is possible in hilly areas of the metro. Just don’t hold your breath while you’re waiting for them to show up!
Another thing to watch for: hail and downpours. If we have some nice sun breaks that should work with colder air moving into the skies above to create some intense showers. There’s even an outside chance for a thunderstorm.
It’s okay if you don’t like the weather on days like this. It’ll be different 15 minutes from now, anyway!
D. Grace says
Can you please have a permanent tracker on your koin website, your blog, or your facebook page that lists how many days in a row it has rained? This is the most common question I get from family and friends out of town and I always have a hard time figuring it out. I haven’ t been able to find any tracker that keeps track of this. If you already know of one, I’d appreciate your info. I love watching Koin and look up your websites often so it would be great if you already had it there. Thanks so much for your consideration!
Bruce Sussman says
Grace–
Thanks very much for your post. This is actually a great idea and one that I’ve never thought of. Surely someone has written the computer code (somewhere) to track such a thing automatically. I’ll look into it.
Thanks for the idea!
Alyson Broberg says
Looking for a “numbers of days it has rained this winter/spring” log is what got me to this website to begin with. I second the motion!
Native Portlander says
I was looking for a tracker too! That’s how I ended up here. I think that is a great idea!! Could you manual track it Bruce? 🙂