Meteorologists with the National Weather Service predicted potentially record-breaking high temperatures in Central Oregon Tuesday, as warm air moving through the region dashed hopes of enough mountain snow to reopen the state’s largest ski area.
Temperatures this week have been about 15 degrees above average, according to NWS meteorologist Cole Evans.
“Unfortunately, it’s going to eat away a lot of the snow that we got last week,” Evans said.
On Saturday, skiers and snowboarders braved blizzard-like conditions to catch the first lift running at Mt. Bachelor, only to see the resort closed again by Sunday.
“In order to preserve our snowpack for the season ahead, we will be limiting all disturbances on the snow surface and suspending operations through Tuesday,” Mt. Bachelor spokesperson Lauren Burke said in a press release.
“We will assess conditions daily with the goal of reopening for skiing and riding on Wednesday morning if possible.”
Bend and Redmond had highs in the low 60s forecast on Tuesday, which could break a record of 61 degrees, set in 1962. Most Redmond heat records for this week date back to the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, Evans said.
Still, he added, anomalous temperature swings are not that usual east of the Cascades in early December. This warm spell is part of an atmospheric river that’s dumped inches of rain west of the mountains, leading to record-high temperatures in the Portland metro area and flooding in coastal regions.
Redmond has gotten the same blast of warm air, but very little of the moisture, recording only a quarter of an inch of rain over the last three days. Evans said more rain is expected to fall on the region through the day Wednesday, and then by evening, colder, more seasonal temperatures ranging from the high 20s to mid 40s are likely to return.