Weather Eye: Icy morning thaws into a balmy afternoon; chilly weather ahead

Another round of icy conditions arose early Wednesday as a quick but heavy rain shower wet the ground around 9 p.m. Tuesday evening. Skies cleared quickly and resulted in overnight lows that dropped into the upper 20s.

I think it was much icier driving than it was on Monday morning, at least out in Salmon Creek. There were numerous accidents, some rather bad, and many people took a tumble while walking and required medical attention. My overnight low was 27 degrees; it was 28 at Pearson Airfield.

It was nice and felt quite balmy Wednesday afternoon as the temperature broke the 40-degree mark for the first time since Dec. 30. It certainly is chilly so far this month, with the average mean temperature running at 32 degrees, 8.4 degrees below average.

Something else that is running below average is the precipitation. Only .30 of an inch has fallen in Vancouver so far this month. Of course, that is to be expected, as we discussed here last week. The main storm track is forecast to be way to our south in California for the next two or three months, thanks El Ni?o.