<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Winter wondering: Is it over in Pacific Northwest?

Meteorologist says there's still time for bigger blast

By Sue Vorenberg
Published: February 17, 2015, 12:00am

Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil may have gone scurrying at the sight of his shadow this Groundhog Day, but here in the Pacific Northwest it may be better to listen to Whiskers J, who claims winter is over.

Whiskers, the Oregon Zoo’s African pygmy hedgehog, predicted a quick end to winter when he popped out of his hole on Feb. 2. And if the record-setting and near-record temperatures of the last few weeks are any indication, it seems he was on to something.

The competing creatures’ non-scientific predictions stem from an old German legend that says if a furry rodent sees its shadow on that day, we’ll have six more weeks of winter.

On the scientific side, though, the National Weather Service prefers to hedge its bets.

“It’s not safe to say winter is over yet,” said Matthew Cullen, a meteorologist with the service in Portland. “There’s still time for a more traditional winter streak in the coming weeks.”

But while there’s still time, there’s nothing in the 10-day forecast that indicates the predictions of Pennsylvania’s rodent will overtake those of Whiskers. Tuesday’s high for Vancouver is forecast for 66 degrees.

That would be even warmer than Sunday’s record-breaking 65 degrees. The prior record for Feb. 15, 64 degrees, was set in 1902.

“This is one of the warmest Februaries on record, in Vancouver, Portland and Seattle,” Cullen said.

This has been the third-warmest first two weeks of February on record in Vancouver, with high-temperature averages of 48 degrees. That’s just behind the record average of 49.1 degrees set in 1963 and 48.1 degrees in 1958.

The warm and overall mild winter has been a product of a high pressure system sitting on top of the region, Cullen said. The pressure pushes colder systems and storms to the north.

Those systems may also be responsible for the cold, snowy weather affecting the Northeast, because when there’s high pressure here, low pressure systems tend to develop on the other side of the continent.

“It kind of happens in conjunction,” Cullen said. “Although there are exceptions, of course.”

There’s also no guarantee that things won’t flip back toward colder weather here in Vancouver before the season is over, he said.

“There’s still potential in March,” Cullen said.

Loading...