Showers are back in the forecast today, but much of the time is dry.  Often when folks hear showers in the forecast they think it’s going to rain a lot.  The word showers is so broadly used that the exact meaning is open to some interpretation.   If you look up the definition it says something about the rain or snow being brief and light.

There is actually not going to be much rain today.  Most of the showers or even steadier rain will fall in the foothills and mountains this morning and early afternoon.  Along the coastline it will be cloudy and mild with the chance of a few showers.

I’ll be updating the forecast @growingwisdom on Twitter. Follow @growingwisdom

Showers are often difficult to predict who will see the most and who will see the least.  This is because the mechanisms helping to form showers will often not be consistent across or within a given area. The image below shows where it is forecast to be raining according to one of the computer models I use.  Notice very little rain along the coast at this time (11AM).  Those showers are moving east so we do run the risk of an hour or two of showers in Portland especially between 11AM and 2PM.  By the end of the day there might be some sunshine.

Warmer air has moved north overnight. Temperatures will be significantly higher today, reaching near or even above 70F inland.  If we see enough sunshine Portland could reach 70F, but it’s an outside shot.  Whether we reach this mark today or tomorrow it’s going to happen this weekend.  This is about 3 weeks later than the average first time we hit 70F in the spring

The most likely times for showers are this morning and then again late this afternoon or more likely the first part of the overnight.  Again, I want to stress the brevity of the rain for most of you.  There is some humidity in the air today and this is one of the first days this spring we have felt these conditions.  It’s not going to be oppressively humid by any means, but the air does feel more like summer.

Later today and overnight a cold front will push offshore.   This front will clear the skies and lower the moisture in the air.  This is going to set up a great day for Mother’s Day.  If you are a very early riser you may notice some cloudiness leftover before 7AM, however, the trend tomorrow is going to be for sunshine to increase and temperatures to be in the 70s.  It will turnout a picture perfect day to be outside.

It’s anything but perfect in Rockies tomorrow.  A very late season snowstorm is going to hit Colorado and Wyoming with cold temperatures and abundant snow.  The map below shows how much snow the NAM model is forecast for the Colorado and Wyoming areas.  Some of the mountains could see up to 2 feet of snow if this is correct.  While the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming do get snow in May, there is a Winter Storm Watch for Denver where 6 inches of snow is a possibility.  If this storm occurs it’s definitely going to break some sort of record for the lateness of the season.

Our weather remains warm for Monday, but don’t put away the jackets just yet.  Much of next week will be on the cooler side.  It’s not going to snow, but temperatures could struggle out of the 50s on a few days, a stark contrast to the near 75F we will see Monday.

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