The official beginning of winter is days away, but the weather evidently didn’t get the notice or ignores the calendar.
What about our chilly low temperatures of late? Thursday had a low of 24 degrees, Friday 23 degrees and Saturday 21 degrees. Lower and lower. Thank goodness clouds rolled in Saturday evening to throw a blanket on that.
Winter will arrive at 1:48 p.m. Wednesday. When will the snowflakes arrive? That is, of course, up in the air.
For certain, modified arctic air will work its way down to Puget Sound today, with light snow up there. A convergent zone will be set up near King and Snohomish counties, with several inches of snow possible.
In our region, precipitation odds will rise tonight through Tuesday. If we get enough cold air, we could have a repeat of what we had earlier in the month, with a brief dusting. The cold front finally sagging south to the Columbia River by Tuesday could offer our best chance, but we may be short on moisture. Don’t expect sledding weather. Again, it is difficult to predict a marginal situation that far out, but stay tuned to your favorite weather source for updates.
Forecast models say we will have a dry and mild Christmas Eve and perhaps a rainy and mild Christmas. Don’t hold your breath on that one, but as of this writing, that is the trend.
Those low temperatures the past few days were far from records. A cold spell in the early 1920s produced single-digit lows here.
Vancouver’s weather logbooks go way back to 1849, when official U.S. Weather Bureau observations began at the U.S. Army Barracks Hospital.
I have viewed the handwritten, quill-pen entries with interest in the past. Some days were omitted due to “Indian uprisings” or “Fur trader hostilities.”
In November 1895, the first cooperative station was established, and observations moved from the Fort to the A.A. Quarnberg residence at 3114 Kauffman Ave.
Come back Tuesday, and I’ll share the rest of the story. Take care.
