Weather Eye: Next shot of rain Tuesday night as we prepare for 2021

I trust everyone managed to make it through Christmas well and look toward to the coming new year in many ways, for sure. A couple of weeks ago I threw out a forecast for Christmas Day of partly cloudy and 43 degrees. I got 43 degrees all right, but as you know, rain developed in the afternoon. Vancouver measured 0.59 inch.

That was helpful for our monthly rainfall tally but with the 0.06 inch Saturday we are running three-quarters of an inch below average. Today, we see partly cloudy skies with some weak sunshine. East winds will begin once again and keep fog away at least from areas east of I-205. The next shot of rain will be Tuesday night, with rain or showers the rest of the year.

With cooler air over us Tuesday and dry east winds, some locations may see a wintry mix of precipitation Tuesday night. For sure in the Gorge, but perhaps anywhere here in Clark County. If it falls overnight it would be short-lived and you would sleep through it with only plain rain Wednesday morning.

This is not headline news, but wanted to mention that there may be a chance. What is a wintry mix? Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain and the like. As moisture falls from warmer air aloft into the lower layer of cold air, it evaporates and cools the air as it falls and can refreeze into ice pellets or sleet. Also, some snowflakes can survive right down to the surface.

Here we are on the doorstep of New Year’s Day and what is typically our coldest month, and I don’t see any snow or cold and ice heading our way in the next 10 days at least. That takes us into the first quarter of January. Things could change, as we know. I have been watching the temperatures in the far Northwest Territories and they have been running way above freezing. However, the last couple of days they have been below zero and in the teens, with snow. Maybe a source for a potential winter event for us? We’ll keep a close weather eye peeled.