The weather forecast is going as we discussed Thursday, with a juicy storm to our west. Those storm clouds will be rolling in today, with rain beginning by late afternoon or this evening.
Expect moderate rain overnight and into early Monday, with a good half-inch here in the city and 1 inch or more in the foothills. As the front moves through tonight and Monday, winds will pick up, and gusts between 35 and 45 mph could cause scattered power outages.
Blizzard conditions will develop in the higher Cascades, with 3 feet of snow falling between now and late Tuesday up there.
Even at pass levels, snow will fall as the freezing level lowers behind the cold front Monday. A good foot or more will fall at Government Camp. We need that snow for summer.
Along the coast, winds of 50 to 60 mph are expected, with 1 to 3 inches of rain falling; the highest amounts will be in the west slopes of the coastal mountains. A stormy time all the way around.
As the steady rain passes and we go into showers locally, cold air aloft could cause funnel clouds or even a brief tornado touching down.
That is so common in April; we call them cold core funnel clouds. With daytime heating and extremely cold air aloft, plenty of up-and-down motion is created, stirring the clouds up. Sometimes rotation begins, and we can have a minor but noteworthy tornado touch down.
Conditions aren’t totally favorable this time, but the potential is there. It comes with the territory of April and its feisty appetite for those mean rain showers.
Watch for those towering cumulus clouds later Monday and especially Tuesday.
Things should quiet down Tuesday night, and with clear skies, I expect some light frost in many areas, mainly away from the downtown area of Vancouver.
On Wednesday and Thursday, will see partly sunny skies, with highs in the 65-to-70-degree range. Enjoy it, because weather charts show colder showers returning by the weekend, with even more mountain snow.
