Bend Fall Weather (Portland, Eugene, Ashland: home, live in, garden)

[delta07]

I posted this in an older thread last Friday, but haven't heard any responses, so thought I'd try again.

I'm curious to hear from those long-time (or longer than my year anyways) Bend residents. What is the normal fall weather for the Bend area like? Last fall, my first fall here, was absolutely gorgeous--dominated by mild temperatures (mid-70s), sunny, blue skies, and very little rain. This fall, in contrast, has been overcast, cool, and fairly rainy (for this CO girl). Is this year's fall weather more the norm, or is last year's weather more typical for this time of year?

[whirnot]

Although I don't live in Bend, I have been tracking the Bend weather for a while, as we are considering moving there from the CO front Range. Typically Bends weather is quite close to ours, although a little milder. We have also been cooler this fall by a large amount. We are forecast to get into the teens for the second time this month. Some ski areas are open (earliest in 40 years.)
I think it is just a cool fall.
We did come to Bend over the weekend, I think I like it.

[PNW-type-gal]

I live about 100 miles south of you - the fall of 2008 was not a standard fall, Indian Summer went into mid-November or so. This fall has been a little cooler and wetter than normal, with first hard frost coming a little sooner than normal, but it wasn't by much.

[Neal2009]

I thought Bend was supposed to be sunny all the time, the opposite of western Oregon. However, when I look up the forecast for Bend, I always see the same weather as Portland or Eugene. Sounds like a total myth that Bend has nicer weather.

[Dry Side]

Not sure how you define nicer weather, but Central Oregon is much drier then the valley. From my home I watch the clouds stack up against the west side of the Cascades. Often the forecast will say chance of rain, but it rarely materializes. Rarely is the forecast right.

[Yoni777]

Its November and has been sunny every day almost since I moved here a month ago. ITs weird, the one rainy day, it clouded up and rained for 5 minutes and then the clouds broke and it became sunny.

However, I do hear that Bend gets clouds, but the clouds dry out. I think what Bend doesn't get is the thick foggy low clouds that WEstern Oregon gets. I don't mind these partly cloudy days as much as I mind the long, perpetual drizzle of the valley.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Yoni777

Its November and has been sunny every day almost since I moved here a month ago. ITs weird, the one rainy day, it clouded up and rained for 5 minutes and then the clouds broke and it became sunny.

However, I do hear that Bend gets clouds, but the clouds dry out. I think what Bend doesn't get is the thick foggy low clouds that WEstern Oregon gets. I don't mind these partly cloudy days as much as I mind the long, perpetual drizzle of the valley.

Your idea of sunny weather is probably different from mine, since you moved to Bend from western OR. A sunny day to me is truly a sunny day, no clouds, just crystal clear blue skies. It has definitely been cloudy here this fall, but hopefully this sun we've been getting will last a while longer. I'm just missing the bluebird sunny days! I don't mind the cold, in fact I love crisp fall days, just want a little more sun before winter sets in.

[Fiddlehead]

Hi Delta,

I think this fall is more typical. I live in Ashland, which, surprisingly actually has similar weather to Bend. We get the same storms as all of Oregon, but much less rain falls because we are on the dry side of the Siskiyous. However, it can get cold and cloudy. For instance today has had very little rain so far, but a cold front is blowing through and it is cloudy, windy, and cold. Bend is a bit colder and drier than here, but because it is a bit further north, gets plenty of storms.The spring and fall in Oregon are highly variable, so you can get just about anything. Certainly when the storms start rolling through it will feel cool to cold and windy anytime from mid October to May.

Even in Ashland, we have had snow before Halloween and as late as April. I would expect to see occasional snow in Bend as early as mid October to as late as May. So, it really just depends upon what the jet stream is doing. If it sags south and the storms start rolling through, Fall can be quite chilly, wet, and cloudy. But usually it is not uniformly stormy until November. My impression is that Late Fall/Winter are really one season that arrives in early November in Oregon,with only a minor cooling between now and January. West of the Cascades, we do see crocuses coming up in late February, but I suspect it would be a bit later there.

[delta07]

Well it appears as though fall has landed here in Bend. It was certainly the shortest summer I've ever experienced! The arctic cool front that blew down from Alaska has been quite a shocker here in August, but as I read more and more this isn't entirely uncommon. Luckily I've amped up my garden beds and built hoops on all of them so I can cover my plants easily at night. We're supposed to get back into the 80s by the end of next week too. I sure hope this was a rare cool front and we have a beautiful fall. I don't think I could handle a cold one after this year's spring!

[kapetrich]

September '11 was extremely dry, brilliantly sunny and warm (mid 70's- low 90's) - one of the better September of my short life, actually. October '11 was also dry and perfectly sunny, but not as warm (60's to just touching the 70s) save for a few days right at the begging of October where it was a bit cooler/cloudier and the last day or two where it seems the cold weather has taken hold (upper 40's-50's), albeit still brilliantly sunny.

Personally, I was hoping for repeat of last fall with another early storm in October dumping a few feet on the mountains leaving us with a couple of inches in town to help pretty the place up for a day or two......sadface. Looks like Colorado's getting that this year and probably a WHOOOOOOLE lot more......