By AccuWeather meteorologist
February has been drier in the Pacific Northwest following a very wet December and January, but a shift back to a much stormier pattern will take place as the month ends and March begins, AccuWeather forecasters say.
"Seattle has only received 0.74 of an inch of rain this month, or 20 percent of average," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Thomas Geiger, who added that Portland, Oregon, has been even drier, with only 0.58 of an inch of rain, which is just 16 percent of the city's monthly average through Feb. 25.
Cold air moved into the region this week, and both Seattle and Portland reported some snow early on Thursday morning. Enough snow fell in the Seattle area to coat roads in some locations.
While more snow is on the way for the Northwest, the upcoming system will deliver rain to Seattle and Portland.
The weekend began dry, but rain started to come ashore in western Washington and far western Oregon on Saturday afternoon and will move inland by Sunday. This will mark the beginning of a very wet stretch expected in the region.
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"A parade of storms is set to impact the region over the next 10 days, and it is possible that the Pacific Northwest does not have a completely dry day until March 6 or March 7," noted Geiger.
After the first storm from Saturday afternoon into Sunday, another will quickly follow on Monday. That system is expected to be a bit stronger and make it farther inland, with snow reaching as far east as northwestern Wyoming by Tuesday.
The next system will come ashore by Wednesday and linger into Thursday before also moving into the northern Rockies. After that, the last system in the storm train will move onto the coast next Friday and Saturday, but that one will have less moisture than its predecessors.
Outside of western Washington and northwestern Montana, much of the region is still in a drought. This includes much of central Oregon, which is in a state of exceptional drought, the most intense type of drought listed by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Not only will rain be beneficial in the lower elevations, but the below-normal snowpack will get a boost in the mountains.
"Through the weekend, much of the coastal Northwest can expect a total of 2-4 inches of rain. In the highest mountain peaks, that will translate to 1-2 feet of snow," said Geiger.
AccuWeather meteorologists say none of these systems will track as far south as Northern California. Unlike Washington and Oregon, much of California has been dry since the calendar flipped to 2022.
A potential pattern change by the middle of March could bring valley rain and mountain snow to central and Southern California, but that is far from a certainty at this point, forecasters say.
Since the rainy season typically comes to an end by late March in Southern California, time is running out for needed precipitation before the drier time of the year begins.
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