Thanksgiving is one week away and the weather has now begun to look rather exciting. If you have a snowflake icon on your smartphone for next week, don’t panic. Various forecast models indicate cold air and moisture next week, which are the right ingredients for local snowfall.
No need to be alarmed just yet. What I can tell you is our dry and mild pattern appears to be changing. Temperatures will do a slow decline into the 40s for highs and 30s for lows. We won’t see 56 degrees for a high like we did Wednesday.
Predicting snow several days out is not an exact science. But if successive runs of the reliable forecast models continue the trend, I will feel more confident. I can tell you snow levels will certainly drop below pass levels. If you are traveling over the Cascades Tuesday or Wednesday for Thanksgiving, better have traction devices on or handy. It could be a snowy trip.
Snow levels could drop down to the Coast Range passes and even on our foothills around Clark County. The positioning of the low-pressure systems is key. Models want to push them south of Clark County, which means we get colder air but less moisture. If the storms stay further north, we stay mild, wet and breezy.
Meanwhile, we stay dry through most of Saturday. Rain returns Sunday through Tuesday with lowering snow levels and colder high temperatures. After that is anyone’s guess.
