Weather Eye: In spite of forecasts, we hit 60 degrees

I mentioned here the other day that we may see a 60-degree day this week despite forecasts to the contrary, and yea! We did it around 3 p.m. Wednesday. No small feat, for sure, as we were headed toward a March without a temperature of 60 degrees or higher. That would have broken a few records, for sure.

Now that we have managed that milestone, can we move on to that precious 70-degree day? Perhaps some time in April as we manage to get a few dry days and sunshine. However, the rest of this month looks cool and unsettled.

We may get a brief break the last couple days of the month, but then April arrives much like March did, wet and cool. Prospects for spring break locally are not too good weatherwise at this point.

Officially across the river at the Portland airport, they did not reach 60 degrees Wednesday, so they may be headed toward a record-breaker there. The latest 60-degree reading in March was March 27, 1955. So if they can remain below 60 through Sunday, well, another extreme in the record books. Seattle reached 62 degrees late Wednesday, the first 60-degree reading since Nov. 4. When did Vancouver enjoy its last 60-degree day? It was 61 degrees, oddly enough, quite late: on Dec. 12, 2010.

I remember last year we were waiting for our first 80-degree day, which was slow to materialize. We had to wait until June 12 for that little bit of warmth. A couple of side notes for Wednesday: Clear skies led to widespread frost, with temperatures dipping below freezing.

Officially, Vancouver had 31 degrees, but many outlying areas were into the 20s. And easterly winds arrived around midday, with some gusts over 35 mph rolling around a few garbage cans here and there, for sure. Those down-slope winds were the reason why we managed to bump that 60-degree mark. The weekend looks wet.

Pat Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.