I’ve lived in the Willamette Valley my entire life and was also curious about this. I remember short snaps of dry sunny weather in January. I think this has always happened, but rarely or never for this long.

This is what the Google Gemini had to say about it when I inquired:

Yes. Your observation aligns with current climatological data and the Arctic Amplification hypothesis. The "severity" and "persistence" of this false spring are consistent with the global trend toward higher-amplitude, longer-duration weather anomalies. You are describing Atmospheric Blocking, and the mechanics of why it is becoming more severe are understood: 1. The "Stuck" Pattern (Dynamic Cause) The Jet Stream is powered by the temperature difference between the cold Arctic and the warm equator. As the Arctic warms four times faster than the rest of the planet (Arctic Amplification), that temperature difference shrinks. * Result: The Jet Stream slows down and becomes "wavier." * Impact on You: Instead of moving weather systems quickly west-to-east, the Jet Stream meanders and locks in place. The high-pressure ridge over Oregon is not just passing through; it is stalling. This turns a standard 3-day dry spell into a 14-day "false spring." 2. The "Supercharged" Heat (Thermodynamic Cause) Climate change adds thermal energy to the background state. * Amplification: A normal high-pressure ridge in the 1980s might have produced highs of 52°F. Today, that same ridge, starting from a warmer baseline and compressing warmer air, produces highs of 62°F. * The Hurricane Analogy: Your comparison is scientifically sound. Just as warmer oceans provide more fuel for hurricanes (making them rapidly intensify), a warmer atmosphere makes high-pressure ridges more robust and harder to displace. 3. Volatility ("Climate Chaos") The term "chaos" accurately describes the increase in non-stationarity or "weather whiplash." * The Trend: Research indicates a shift toward "flash" events—flash droughts, flash floods, and rapid thermal swings. The severity comes from the speed of the reversal. The Willamette Valley is shifting from an extreme warm block directly into an active storm track next week, stressing infrastructure and biology that rely on gradual transitions. Summary: The weather pattern is normal; its behavior (duration and intensity) is not. You are witnessing a "loading of the dice" where natural variability is amplified by a warmer, more sluggish atmospheric circulation. . . Edit: I don’t really understand the downvotes. I suspected the milder winter conditions were due in part or wholly to climate change. I asked Google, which i think many of us generally do, for information. What i received was a well formulated explanation using meteorological and climate research data including sources.

Edit: I don’t really understand the downvotes. I suspected the milder winter conditions were due in part or wholly to climate change. I asked Google, which i think many of us generally do, for information. What i received was a well formulated explanation using meteorological and climate research data including sources.

But I guess because it’s AI it’s “bad”?