We dodged more heavy snow over the weekend, but we got plenty of rain
By Patrick Timm
Published: February 7, 2017, 6:00am
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About time for spring, don’t you think? At least it is easier for us weather folks to predict rain, showers and clearing periods. The snow, sleet, ice, etc., not so much. Especially this winter!
We chatted about a heavy snow pattern setting up somewhere nearby Sunday, and it did just north and west of Clark County — which I think was OK with most of us. However, the 2-plus inches of rain in the bucket Sunday was somewhat daunting.
Mudslides, car accidents, and street flooding? Not so good. The weather forecast of rain changing to snow was a fleeting endeavor as computer models shifted back and forth.
It snowed all day in Astoria, Ore., with 3 inches at sea level and 8 inches or more on the upper-hillside city levels. Wet snow fell off and on farther north on the Washington side from Chinook to Ocean Park. By dark, snow covered the entire Long Beach Peninsula.
The real winners in the snowfall were Cowlitz County northward. Kelso and Longview had snow — and many inches just above the freeway of I-5. It snowed all day and all night in Olympia. Seattle finally got in on the action, beating out rival Portland with snow even at the lowest elevations. The greatest snow depths I could find west of the Cascades were in the Northern Oregon coastal mountains where Clatskanie got clobbered. Also the areas east of I-5 from Chehalis to Bellingham.
Isn’t winter over yet? Hardly. We run a risk at some elevations in the county of snow or mixed rain and snow the next day or two. On Thursday, we warm to 50 degrees, perhaps. But more unsettled weather is on tap the rest of the week with good snows in the Cascades and at times low snow levels down to the foothills.
I’ll share last month’s rainfall from our local faithful weather observers in my next column. At least we have the groundhog and Super Bowl behind us. Daylight saving time brings more daylight March 12.
Patrick Timmis a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him athttp://patricktimm.com
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