News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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There is an increasing probability that the upcoming winter weather will be orchestrated by a moderate to strong El Niño. What that means in our part of world is that warmer and drier than normal conditions will likely prevail. But please read on, for as it's oft said, the devil is in the details. After influencing global weather patterns for three straight years, La Niña is now gone. Her departure is making way for the El Niño Southern Oscillation's (ENSO) warm phase, na... Full story
After yet another long hot, dry summer that has extended well into fall here in Central Oregon, a major shift in the weather pattern has finally brought cooler temperatures and much-needed moisture to help quell the wildfires and clear the smoky skies. Is it just a short-term anomaly or a harbinger of a much more active winter season that may lie ahead? For the past several weeks, forecasters have been sifting through meteorological data seeking clues to answer that very... Full story
Early last fall seasonal forecasters were eyeing changes taking place in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Sea surface temperatures there were trending lower, a sign that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was likely transitioning to its cool phase, paving the way for the second appearance of La Niña in as many years. Sure enough, in October she arrived for a repeat engagement to once again orchestrate global weather patterns. When La Niña is on her game,... Full story
Last summer’s record-setting heat was adversely impactful here in the western U.S., leading to numerous wildfires that burned well into the fall. The heat worsened already severe drought conditions in our region. Many residents are hoping for the upcoming winter season to produce generous amounts of precipitation and cool temperatures. Is this likely to happen? Is it even in the cards? The winter of 2021-22 is forecasted to feature the second of back-to-back La Niñas (t... Full story
Except for a couple of light dustings of snow that quickly came and went, Sisters Country has been remarkably free of winter-like conditions even as we advance deeper into the heart of the cold season. Last fall weather prognosticators advertised a La Niña was on the way that would likely result in a colder and wetter than normal winter. Not only was her arrival right on time, but she’s been gaining strength and is now classified as a strong La Niña. As m... Full story
After enduring one of the worst fire seasons in modern history, Oregonians earnestly hope the upcoming winter will deliver an ample supply of much-needed moisture to extinguish the fires still burning and to ease extreme drought conditions that grip our region. Every source of information begins by revealing current conditions in the central Pacific Ocean. Known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), it is the most important climate phenomenon on earth due to its ability to change the global atmospheric... Full story
A celestial visitor that hasn’t been around these parts in about 6,800 years is currently putting on an impressive display in Sisters’ skies. The cosmic traveler is comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3, found on March 27 by the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite, and it has turned out to be the brightest comet in years. Early last spring astronomers speculated that newly discovered comets Atlas and Swan might become easy naked-eye objects as they appr... Full story
Finding a parking space in the vicinity of the Sisters Movie House last Wednesday evening, January 15, was a more difficult task than normal for a weeknight. A likely reason for this was, besides the usual number of mid-week moviegoers, others from the Central Oregon region converged in Sisters to view a special movie about how to preserve our dark skies. And it was free of charge. The film is a documentary entitled “Saving the Dark” with a purpose to raise awareness of eve... Full story
Early in the week of Thanksgiving a slug of cold, moist air in British Columbia was poised to plunge southward, and the Pacific Northwest appeared to be in the crosshairs. While the frigid air was not of arctic-like intensity, it was potent enough to cause potential problems for holiday travelers. And that it did. Snow began falling in Sisters late on November 26 that continued throughout the next day and into Thanksgiving on November 28. Weather records show that a foot-and-a-half of snow fell during the two-day period.... Full story
This is the time of the year when key aspects of the atmosphere and ocean begin to emerge that will drive weather patterns in the coming weeks and months. Soon seasonal forecasters will begin evaluating this information, making their own judgments about which sets of data are most important in order to paint a picture of the upcoming winter here in the Pacific Northwest. Most atmospheric scientists regard the ocean/atmosphere coupled mode, known as the El Niño-Southern... Full story
Astronomers estimate that more than two-thirds of all stars have one or more companions to accompany them in their journey through the cosmos. Our sun, however, seems to be going it alone in this regard, for despite an exhaustive search no stellar partner has yet been found. But perhaps we’re better off that the sun is a solitary star, since having two of them in our sky might severely limit our ability to see other celestial wonders that a dark night sky affords. A visual d... Full story
Six student members of the Sisters community RECON team recently returned from the 2019 network-wide conference held in Boulder City, Nevada, with renewed enthusiasm and dedication to carrying forward the goals of the program. Led by high school teacher Rima Givot, Joelle Asson, Amy Hills, Delsie McCrystal, Paola Mendoza, Ramsey Schar and Holly Werts learned about what sorts of changes are in store to help improve the overall success of the project. RECON is an acronym that... Full story
Earlier in the fall climate forecasters began to speculate about the kind of weather the Pacific Northwest might experience this winter. On September 20, Pete Parsons, meteorologist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture in Salem, issued a forecast for the period October through December. It called for October to start out relatively quiet, turning more stormy by the end of the month and continue through December. Although his forecast was primarily targeted for the area wes... Full story
On the evening of Friday, November 9, four high school students of the Sisters Astronomy Club - Joelle Asson, Amy Hills, Paola Mendoza and Ramsey Schar - and educator Rima Givot ventured into the dark of night to measure, well... the dark of night. Their work was requested by Jay Head and Joe McDermott, residents of Black Butte Ranch, as part of an effort by the community to gain certification from the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). Head and McDermott escorted the group to five locations throughout the Ranch in an... Full story
After a hot, dry, and smoky summer here in Central Oregon, autumn finally arrived at 6:54 p.m. PDT on Saturday, September 22, bringing with it the prospect of cooler temperatures and cleaner air as firefighters continue to battle the numerous wildfires still burning in the western U.S. While summers here in the Pacific Northwest are normally warm and dry, conditions this year have bordered on the extreme. For the five-month period May through September, both Sisters and Bend... Full story
Sisters Country might as well have had two winters this season - one mild and dry, and one with plenty of snow and chilly temperatures. When a neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal was measured in the tropical Pacific Ocean last fall that looked like it might morph into a La Niña by winter, it's understandable why many seasonal forecasters foresaw roughly normal conditions with regard to temperature and precipitation for the Pacific Northwest this... Full story
As if on cue, the arrival of September's autumnal equinox brought with it an abrupt change in the weather. Earlier in the month the heat and smoke of summer was still in play as temperatures soared into the 90s. Then, on September 19, the snow level dropped to 5,500 feet and blanketed the central Cascades with its first snowfall - thanks to a shot of chilly air from the Gulf of Alaska. And just like that, the summer of 2017 was history. The cool and wet weather continued... Full story
It shouldn't be much of a stretch to suppose that wildfire-weary residents of Central Oregon - and much of the entire western U.S. - will welcome the onset of the fall and winter seasons. Since early August, smoke-filled skies haven't just been an annoyance to outdoor enthusiasts, but have posed health risks in many areas. The key to returning to some semblance of normalcy is, of course, the weather. At this writing, cooler and wetter weather from the Gulf of Alaska has moved... Full story
The magnificence of last month's total solar eclipse will likely stay with, perhaps for a lifetime, the many thousands of Central Oregon residents who witnessed it. Though the weather was mostly cloud-free, obscuring smoke from wildfires hung in the air in many areas. For those in the path of totality, the event delivered on all that was promised, and right on time. When the moon completely hid the face of the sun, Sol's corona popped into view, along with a few reddish-colore... Full story
Few sights in nature can equal the exquisite and awe-inspiring beauty of a total solar eclipse. To gaze upon the sun's pearly white corona, upon which orange colored prominences occasionally dart from the limb of the moon, all the while engulfed in darkness, is an experience never to be forgotten. And, as luck would have it, the laws of celestial motion will align in such a way that this phenomenon will grace the skies of many Americans from Oregon to South Carolina on August... Full story
Extreme winter weather battered Central Oregon in December and January, while February brought a respite to its snow-weary and frost-bitten residents. Three-foot snow depths were common in and around the Sisters area during December and January, accompanied by bone-chilling temperatures that plunged below minus-20 degrees Fahrenheit early in January. More moderate weather in February allowed folks to make some progress in clearing away the deep snow, though temperatures still... Full story
Ask someone to name a prominent constellation of winter and the response you'll probably get is Orion. This will often be the case even if the person doesn't know and is totally guessing. It works because, after the Big Dipper, the mighty celestial hunter's name is so well known. Orion is, of course, the right answer. This stunning stellar grouping rides high in the southern sky during the evening hours of this last full month of winter, and can't be missed by anyone who... Full story
Somewhat more moderate temperatures over the past two weeks have aided Central Oregon residents in digging out from one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent memory. But there's still a lot of snow piled up that may take weeks to clear, and weather forecasters call for more cold and precipitation through February. Longtime inhabitants of Sisters say they can't remember such a protracted spell of cold, snowy weather in at least 24 years, going back to the winter of 1992-93. Don... Full story
Central Oregon's prolonged spell of cold, snowy weather provided a certain wintry charm to the holiday season this year. That "charm," however, came, quite literally, at a cost. Local residents paid more (or will when the bills arrive) to heat their living and working spaces. Then there was the additional expense associated with clearing snow from around homes and businesses. This might have included purchasing products that help melt snow and ice from sidewalks and other walk... Full story
On Wednesday, December 14, Old Man Winter took dead aim on Central Oregon and dealt the region a staggering blow. The wintery blast closed schools, federal and state offices, as well as many businesses. For several days following the storm, citizens were still digging their way out of the massive snowfall in an attempt to regain some sense of normalcy. Forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Pendleton began to take notice of a rather disorganized mass of... Full story
