This is going to be real quick, but after a decent thunderstorm near The Dalles on Saturday and a big storm with outflow winds, for the Portland Metro on Sunday – today we’re going to have another good shot at widespread thunder action.

We have a hot atmosphere, and moist southerly flow in the upper-middle layers.  That, combined with intense surface heating from the June sun, should trigger storms along the Cascades.  Furthermore, an incoming marine ‘front’ in the Willamette Valley later this afternoon, may trigger a few surprise storms in the Portland area, as the cool air crashes into the unstable hot air.

Currently 93 degrees F in The Dalles, as of 1pm.  That probably puts us on track to hit 98 or 99 by 4-5pm this afternoon – IF clouds from building T-storms don’t cut off the heating in the next couple hours.  I don’t think they will roll in that soon though, so upper 90s looks like a safe bet for DLS.

Here is the GFS 24-hour forecast for precip, from 5am this morning through 5am tomorrow:

Most of the heavy “monsoonal” action is centered to our south, but definitely some T-storms firing up the spine of the northern Oregon Cascades too.  That probably means good news for Hood River & Parkdale later this afternoon – I might be headed out that way to storm chase in a little while!

1pm visible satellite shows clouds beginning to build to the immediate southwest:

If you are going to observe T-storms, good luck and be safe!!!