The temperature reached 61 degrees late Monday afternoon under sunny skies, the warmest since Nov. 11, when it was also 61 degrees. Quite a change from the chilly weekend we just encountered. I can take this, can you?
The rest of the week looks balmy but wet, very wet. A strong storm arrives later today, and between today and Thursday we could see some 2-4 inches in the rain bucket. If this pans out, we could easily have more rain in two days than we had the entire month of January!
We will see twice that in the mountains. And with high freezing levels, that could lead to a whole lot of water running off the slopes. Flooding, anyone? Stay tuned for that.
Last month, I measured 6.95 inches of precipitation, which included more than a foot of snow. That is the most since November 2011, when I had over 7 inches of precipitation. I am receiving some impressive precipitation numbers from February from local weather observers and will share soon.
March 1 is officially the start of spring for us weather buffs. With that can come some excitement. Thunderstorms will be a threat at times this week as the atmosphere warms under clearing periods with sunshine. There were some lightning strikes around the Northwest on Monday, and there should be many on Thursday afternoon, after Wednesday’s big soaker. The rest of the week looks unsettled, with a chance of rain or showers.
It sure took a while to melt the snow and ice in the Gorge, but westerly winds did the trick on Monday. All of Eastern Washington was above the freezing point, except Wenatchee and Omak, at 4 p.m. Monday.
The hours of daylight are getting longer by about three minutes a day, and daylight savings time goes into effect this weekend, making for some nice long evenings. Great for walking, baseball practice, kite flying or gardening. Winter is over, folks, although don’t be surprised if sometime this month it tries to give us a farewell bout of cold and blustery weather.
Chat with you on Thursday!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://patricktimm.com.
