Winter doldrums return

Two weeks ago winter made a noticeable, but brief, appearance in Central Oregon. Some snow and a soaking rain fell at lower elevations, while the mountains received a generous snowpack. 

Over the past few days, however, the weather has become less active, and it looks like that trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

From late November through mid-January, a blocking ridge in the upper atmosphere over the U.S. West Coast was effective in keeping Pacific storms from entering our region. The result was warm, dry and quiet weather, except for the last four days in December, when Sisters recorded two inches of rain. Meanwhile, much of Alaska is enduring its coldest winter in over 40 years, indicative of the fact that the coldest air in the northern hemisphere remains bottled up at high latitudes due to stronger-than-normal jet-stream winds.

For the past three or four days now, medium-range weather forecasting models are unanimous in calling for another blocking ridge to establish itself over the western coast of North America. If this forecast turns out to be right, we're in for more unseasonably warm and dry weather through at least the middle of February.

But don't put away your winter gear just yet.