Satellite pictures out in the Pacific on Saturday afternoon were giving signs of things to come. A change, maybe? Yes, maybe, but for how long?
The center of the high pressure is moving north-northwest up toward Alaska, which will allow more of a westerly flow to undercut the ridge and, yes, bring us some much-needed moisture. Only light rain at first, probably later on Monday. Beyond that, the timing of weather is not clear. The upper atmosphere will cool as the week wears, on allowing any moisture to fall as snow in the mountains. That is good news. No, that is great news.
Longer-range models all show a cooling trend with lowering snow levels. Any snow in the near future for us at low elevations? A mere possibility. I was trying to avoid saying “maybe” again, but of course I am I still hedging.
This winter, after all, has not been behaving as it should and computer forecast models haven’t either. Neither man nor computer has had a high success predicting rain beyond a few days out this winter season. No worry — we will do better next year. Perhaps the great mystery — why the stubborn ridge of high pressure has been anchored offshore for so long — will be solved and factored into computer models.
