You can feel the chill in the air, can’t you? I saw many folks bundled up with sweatshirts and puffy winter jackets the other morning and, of course, some still wearing shorts and T-shirts — the diehard Northwesterners.
Early one morning last week, Vancouver dipped to 38 degrees, which was the coldest it’s been here since May 5, also with 38 degrees. Our high temperatures are well below the average high of 67 degrees.
Today, we have a decent fall storm to deal with — not an excessive downpour, but a moderate rain, producing maybe a quarter-inch to a half-inch in the rain bucket.
As colder air arrives later this evening, snow will begin falling at the lowest ski areas for the first time, and some wet, slushy snow is possible on the Cascades passes.
Showers bounce around Monday; some places might get nothing, and others could see a downpour.
Skies are forecast to clear Monday night into early Tuesday morning. If they do, the greater Vancouver area — including downtown — will quickly drop into the 30s. Some colder locations could see their first frost, about a month early. The outlying communities will see a killing frost if winds remain calm and skies clear.
I expect colder locations to be in the upper 20s. There could be frost on the pumpkin. Protect your plants; a quick cover-up will do. It won’t be pipe-freezing weather, however.
We see another risk of showers Wednesday, and then Thursday through Saturday should be dry, but some forecast models indicate showers nearby. It will remain cool, with perhaps no highs in the 60s this week.
We’ll chat on Tuesday and see how things look.
The Oregon Chapter of the American Meteorological Society will host the 29th annual Winter Weather Forecast Conference at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23. Meteorologists from across the Pacific Northwest will once again converge on Facebook live to give their annual forecasts for the upcoming winter.
The public is welcome. Here is the link for the meeting: www.facebook.com/OregonAMS. Attendees will not need to sign in to Facebook in order to view the stream.
