Plenty of gray skies continued all day Friday — along with some moderate rains, which almost caught us up for the month.
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, we had 1.77 inches of rain in the bucket for Vancouver. We were about two-tenths of an inch below average; however, it was still raining Saturday afternoon.
Rain turns to scattered showers today, with some partial clearing periods. We finally got some milder air on those southerly winds that were clocked at 35 to 40 mph. Better than those gorge winds, don’t you think?
Speaking of gorge winds, no worries: They will be back with us later this week, and cold air will accompany them. It’ll be bundle-up weather once again. The flow of things changes, so we get offshore winds as high pressure shunts storms to the north and south of us.
I expect lows dropping into the 20s in wind-sheltered locations with clearing skies, perhaps the teens in the usual coldest areas. Not pipe-bursting weather, but be sure to remove hoses from outdoor faucets, and maybe place frost covers on them. Prepare for colder temperatures, but endure sunny skies with only passing clouds through Friday.
A weak weather system slides through about Tuesday but may produce only some cloudiness and no precipitation. As cold air builds deeper and deeper east of the mountains in the Columbia Basin, we establish a source of cold air if any moisture moves in off the Pacific. That would be the end of the week and next weekend. It’s too early to tell if lowland snow is in the picture.
The bottom line is that from now to Christmas, we remain in a cooler-than-normal air mass.
The mountains received plenty of snow, and a good base is well underway. This week will see excellent skiing conditions, with off-and-on blue skies and the best powder one could wish for.
Meanwhile, keep dreaming of a white Christmas, and maybe nature will throw a dusting or more at us.
The big picture: I see no huge warmup nor any Pineapple Express-type rains.
Keep sipping on hot cocoa and being merry.
