Portland's October has been unusually warm and dry

By the numbers: The National Weather Service has measured just 0.11 inches of rain at the Portland airport this month.

• That's 1.55 inches less than we usually see by this time of the month, good for the seventh-driest October on records that go back 86 years.

• We've also seen an average high of 73°F, the fifth-highest average temperature over that same time.

The big picture: The slow start to rainy season comes after a record-breaking winter, which was marked by an anemic snowpack that helped fuel the state's worst wildfire season in terms of acres burned.

• Forecasters have been warning for months that a potentially historic El Niño brewing in the Pacific Ocean could mean a warmer, wetter winter in Oregon over the coming months.
• We've got the warmer part dialed in, but we're still waiting for things to get wetter.

What's next: Much of the coming week is expected to be dry with above-average temps, per the NWS.

• But that could change toward the end of the week when the season's first atmospheric river could drop down from the Gulf of Alaska, bringing lower temperatures and "significant" rain.
• "Uncertainty remains high at this time," NWS forecasters said, however, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed.