Weather

May 31, 2026May 30, 2026

Rainy Days

Being retired allows you to pick and choose the activity, as well as the day.

The crux of this is . . . we avoid weekends and holidays, regardless of how nice the weather.

Not to begrudge the wage slaves their Memorial Day weekend, but as the campsites started to clear, the dark clouds rolled in.

Tuesday arrived blustery and gray, so by midweek the storm clouds had bunched up overhead and the rain moved in. This dampened our plans. But being resilient, we shifted to more home oriented projects and waited for the inevitable sun’s return.

Last week’s trip to Portland netted us a stack of light fixtures and accent pieces for our ongoing house update. Sooo . . . we spent some of those rainy days installing stuff.

Evening thunderstorms roll through, usually moving north or west along the eastern side of the Cascades. The sky opens up and for a few hours there is sunshine.

Summerlike weather is returning to the forecast next week, so we’re planning accordingly.

For now, we keep working through our house projects.

May 17, 2026May 16, 2026

The Edge of Summer

Snowmelt fills the small ponds along Cascade Lakes Highway.

It got 80 degrees out this afternoon, but the day started just above freezing.

It’s a time between lingering winter storms and full on summer heat . . . the shoulder of summer to lean on.

Upper Deschutes River was clear of snowpack early this year

School is still in session, vacationers are at minimal numbers, and the weather is typically sunny, but nearly always dry. This year we’re able to get into the Cascades nearly a month early.

That will likely come back to bite us before summer’s end. For now, we pull on a sweater as we leave the house, knowing it will be shed when the day warms.

The aspen’s leaves have started to obscure the tiny song birds queued up for a turn at the feeder.

Rabbit Brush, an invasive species, carpets the pine forest with bright yellow . . . for a few weeks in the spring

Small yellow blossoms cover the rabbit brush, so the wooded lot across the street has a golden carpet for a few weeks.

There are wildflowers coming up on the canyon walls and pretty soon the wild iris will add patches of light purple to the riparian.

Birds are paired and fledglings are starting to join in the swim or take flight.

All too soon we’ll be hunkered under broad brimmed hats and tucked into whatever shade we can capture from the junipers.

But in these few weeks we are at peak outdoor time and intend to enjoy every minute

December 6, 2025December 6, 2025

Weather or Not

Weather front moves in from the Columbia River, near Biggs, Oregon

The topic of weather is covered in this blog nearly as much as fishing.

Both are important, though when you’re mostly outside, conditions and changes in weather are important facts.

Cursing the rain is pointless, so mentioning what it’s like outside is observation rather than rant.

Low hanging clouds drift along the Deschutes River Canyon

One of the main reasons we moved to the east side of the Cascade range was to get away from gray wet winters.

From December to March, on average, Portland has a 25% chance of clear skies. In Bend it’s more like 40%. In that same period, Bend gets half as much rainfall.

Portland skies can stay gray for weeks on end. However, here the snow may pile up. but it’s usually only a day before the sun is back.

Frost glazes the ground cover along Hwy 97 near Shinako

Living under that blanket of grey wasn’t helping our mental health . . . more fishing has helped as well.

Salt Creek Falls, Oregon’s second highest single drop waterfall

Nearly forty years ago we migrated to Oregon, drawn by the Pacific Northwest climate.

For a while the lush green was enchanting, but the precipitation that growth required wore thin.

Sun breaks through forest at Sherwood CG on Hwy 35, north of Hood River

We’re in our high desert mode these days. Sage steppe and Ponderosa pine forests are our preferred environment.

These Central Oregon winters aren’t as harsh as what we grew up with in Montana and are tempered with continued assurance of clear skies to come.

Another positive aspect of high desert weather is you can see it before it get’s here and long after it’s moved past.

Near the base of Winter Ridge, Lane County, Oregon

The weather app is nearly as important as our bundle of USFS maps. Weather can’t be avoided, but knowing what’s out there is the goal.

And often, it’s a weather front that has us setting up the tripod.

October 12, 2025October 10, 2025

A High Desert Fall Day

The mornings are getting frosty with a chill that warms up about noon. We’re enjoying these fall days.

In July and August we have to work hard to avoid the heat of the day by seeking out shaded spaces.

After what seemed like a solid week of rain . . . actually it was just a couple of afternoons . . . we’re enjoying a string of cloudless days. Good time to get back on the river.

“… we’ll see if they like that pattern.”

The Crooked River has way fewer people as the season shifts. The fishing is still good. We’re on the stream a bit later in the morning mostly to avoid the frost.

By noon the sun requires we push our chairs into the shade. However, it’s still a pleasant temperature.

Fall sees a shift in bird activity . Some days are filled with flocks on migration and other’s near void of any wildlife activity.

This day we encountered a unique species . . . a Praying Mantis. It landed on JQ’s arm as if asking for its picture to be taken.

Don’t remember ever seeing one of those on the river.

Typical with fall in the high desert, this clear weather will be interrupted by another few days of rain before the skies clear again.

This week that storm front will move in on the weekend leaving mid-week open for us to wander about. It’s hard to beat fall in Central Oregon.

September 14, 2025September 12, 2025

Rainy Days

This week was a change. We went from “Red Flag” warnings and heat waves, to weather reminiscent of winter. It’s not unlike any late summer day in Central Oregon.

As this is getting written, the sun is beaming in my window and it’s around 70 degrees outside. But for most of this week we’ve been watching storm clouds roll in from the Southwest bringing down pouring rain.

We didn’t do any long trips, but we did get out a couple of times . . . driving through the storms. In the high desert you can see weather coming and watch thunderheads bring rain to you.