‘Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My oh my, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine heading my way. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay.”
I don’t think I was the only one singing that old Disney tune Wednesday under those clear, sunny skies. Highs bounced into the low 60s making for a wonderful feeling weather-wise for all.
High clouds slowly increase today, setting the stage for some light rain late tonight or Friday. High pressure rebounds Saturday in earnest for another zip-a-dee-doo-dah day. With a little bit of luck, we squeeze out another nice day Sunday. Wow. A dry, warm weekend? All depends on if the next weather system in the queue holds off. Later next week appears to be cooler and wetter.
I will say that old man winter is still dragging his feet leaving the region. I had ice on my windshield early Wednesday morning, with a low of 29 degrees. Frost was widespread around the county. But with the sun getting higher and higher in the sky, it didn’t take long to warm things up.
I noticed Wednesday afternoon, folks in their shirtsleeves and no jacket. I even saw a few girls sporting summer shorts and sandals. While water is still standing in many fields and retention ponds, some roadways are spewing dust into air as cars nick the shoulder of the roads and freeways. Most of that is leftover sand and gravel from sanding the icy snowy streets last month.
So from mud to dust we go. The ground is still quite saturated and snow melt is filling the rivers and streams. Lowering freezing levels next week will temper that a bit. The amazing water cycle in motion.
Our average high for today, March 13 is 57 degrees. Last year on this date we enjoyed similar weather as Wednesday with a high of 64 degrees and no rain. There is little snow left below 3,000 feet elevation in the mountains. About 30 percent of normal for this time of the year. The upper elevations above 5,00 feet are just slightly less than average. The hiking trails will be available much sooner this year unless we get a dump of low elevation snow in the next few weeks. Nothing on the horizon indicating that.
Chat with you on Sunday. Ah, I can smell the grill already!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://patricktimm.com.
