Weather Eye: A positive of all this December rain is good mountain snows

Keeping with the Christmas theme, the first 12 days of December have been wet. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, Vancouver has had more than 10 inches of wetness — and not a day without rain this month.

Showers continue today, with spotty showers or drips and drizzle Monday and Tuesday. Could we manage one day without measurable rainfall? That is a big maybe.

There will be a lull in the movement of Pacific storms the first couple of days this week, but beyond Wednesday more soaking rains are likely. We will remain on the cool side of the jet stream, so highs in the 40s all week.

The good news: It means good mountain snows. The Mount Hood area was expected to get 2 or 3 feet of snow this weekend, with the heaviest amounts in the higher ski resorts. Looking at the webcam Saturday, Government Camp was in a sea of white. Glory be!

Many locations will surpass their record December rainfall if we keep this going. It has been busy in the weather department the past 12 days or so: icy conditions in the Gorge, floods, landslides, a tornado in Clark County. What’s next?

Saturday was the 20th anniversary of the Dec. 12, 1995, windstorm. Schools closed early that day with the warning of a serious storm. I recorded at my Felida weather station five hours of sustained winds of greater than 30 mph with a peak wind gust from the south of 72 mph at 4:43 p.m. The duration of strong winds and the soggy ground led many trees to succumb to nature’s fury.

Keep dry and we’ll chat on maybe a calm Tuesday.

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

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