OK, I am really struggling to find a lot to write about in this column, so I guess I will have to search my email inbox and answer some questions one of these days. The weather is same old same old.
The high pressure ridge offshore is so strong that it is breaking or shunting the storms, keeping most of the precipitation either right along the coast or to our north.
While we manage to get lighter amounts in our backyard gauges, there have been some heavy rainfall amounts around the state. The coastal beaches Wednesday received well over an inch, and a flood advisory was in effect for the Skokomish River with high runoff from the Olympics. A flood watch was out for Mason County through Thursday afternoon.
The North Cascades continue to get snowfall, slowly building up the snowpack there, but not so lucky in our neck of the woods.
The outlook into next week is for mostly dry weather and mild to seasonal temperatures; we may get some more east wind through the Gorge. The weekend is looking pretty nice and a good opportunity to take down those outside holiday decorations. Boy, it sure seemed the holidays flew by, didn’t it?
Some folks I hear are getting quite worried about our mountain snowpack as we head toward the middle of January in a few days. Of course, last year we had the same wonders, and all turned out well. A LaNiña winter doesn’t always mean much snow for us here in the lowlands but does offer a better-than-average chance of above-normal mountain snowpack.
We are now well into the two-thirds mark of the meteorological winter, and we have about a good month or maybe a few days longer to get a real cold blast of arctic air intrusion. The clock is ticking for those who like cold and snowy weather. I’m thinking a good chance of snow and cold will be from Feb. 21 through 27. I’ll explain later.
Have a great weekend, and I will see you on Sunday. Maybe I will have all those rainfall reports compiled for you.
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.
