January 2021 weather.

Weather-predicting mammals on Groundhog Day were not the only ones expecting more winter.

The National Weather Service in Pendleton happened to agree with Punxsutawney Phil and the Oregon Zoo’s resident beaver, Stumptown Fil, who both predicted six more weeks of winter Tuesday.

The weather service issued a winter weather advisory Tuesday for southern Deschutes County that extends through Wednesday afternoon, and longer term forecasts show more cold and snow during the last half of February.

“We still have some winter left,” said Roger Cloutier, a meteorologist with the weather service in Pendleton. “We could probably get some more snow later this month.”

The winter weather advisory calls for up to 8 inches of snow on the eastern slopes of the Cascade mountain range. Sunriver and La Pine could see about 3 inches of snow from 1 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Cloutier said.

Bend is not included in the advisory but was expected to get 1 to 2 inches of snow Tuesday night.

Following the winter weather advisory, a dry spell is in the forecast for Central Oregon, Cloutier said. Sunshine and no precipitation could last through next week, but then shift back to snowy conditions by the end of February, he said.

“It looks like there is some colder air coming in the latter half of February, which could bring us some colder weather and snow,” Cloutier said.

Any snowfall won’t compare to Bend’s historic late-season winter in February 2019, Cloutier said. More than 45 inches of snow fell that month, and the cold weather kept snow on the ground through St. Patrick’s Day.

“That was unusual,” Cloutier said. “Very unusual.”

Overall, the outlook for February in Bend calls for colder than normal temperatures and below normal precipitation, according to the weather service’s monthly climate summary. The normal high temperature for February in Bend is 44.3 degrees, and the normal low temperature is 24.2 degrees. Normal precipitation is 1.09 inches.

The February forecast breaks a trend of warmer than normal conditions that have been recorded each month since March.

Last month in Bend was no exception. According to the climate summary, January in Bend was warmer than normal.

The average temperature in January was 35.2 degrees, which was 2.5 degrees above normal. High temperatures averaged 44.5 degrees, which was 3.4 degrees above normal. The highest was 54 degrees on Jan. 16.

Low temperatures in Bend in January averaged 26 degrees, which was 1.7 degrees above normal. The lowest temperature was 10 degrees on Jan. 24.

A total of 22 days last month had a low temperature below 32 degrees. On Jan. 24, the high temperature stayed below 32 degrees.

Bend recorded 1.11 inches of precipitation last month, which was 0.42 inches below normal.

Measurable precipitation of at least 0.01 inches was recorded on 10 days. The heaviest was 0.30 inches reported Jan. 13..

January snowfall in Bend totaled 5.7 inches with at least one inch of snow reported on three days. The heaviest snowfall was 2.4 inches on Jan. 22, according to the climate summary.