Weather Eye: Cold, some snow ring in new year with a shiver

Happy New Year! And what better way to ring in a new year than with a little cold and snow? More of the cold than the snow, but we plunge into the deep freeze later today and remain below freezing around the clock until the weekend, most likely.

Skies cleared Friday night and lowered temperatures so the advancing moisture of our little winter storm produced snow right down to city levels for a while. Everyone saw snowflakes from Salmon Creek to downtown and out eastward. It was fun for a while until southerly breezes warmed the lower and middle layers of the air above freezing.

With the cold start to the day and the clouds and showers, the highs were less than forecast Saturday. Temperatures fall slowly throughout today and by dark will be below freezing. Snowfall amounts would depend on how much moisture was left when the frigid conditions arrived.

So the plan is to have that dusting or small amount of snow showers early today, ending by tonight with the thermometer trending steadily down.

Monday and Tuesday will be clear and sunny, with east winds through the Gorge and highs about 30 or less. Lows will be in the teens everywhere in Clark County, and if any locations have much of a snow cover, maybe down to 10 degrees or so. Brrr.

Looking ahead toward the weekend, some forecast models show snow developing Friday or Saturday and lasting over the weekend. There is some variation where we could get out of this deep freeze without much in the way of snow and ice. My experience with computer forecast models is that they always want to warm us up too quickly. If we retain the east winds, then the metro area will see something. Perhaps a big snowstorm with 6 to 12 inches is within the wealth of possibilities.

Meanwhile, enjoy the sunny weather but bundle up when outside. It will feel like we ventured up to the Arctic regions. December ended up about 4 degrees below normal and 2 inches shy of normal on rainfall.

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

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