Merry Christmas and happy holidays! What a wild ride the past few days, with sleet and freezing rain. It could have been worse, with thicker icing, had we received heavier precipitation. And fortunately, sleet fell for a longer period.
Yes, it made the roads and sidewalks plenty icy, but power lines were not weighted down excessively.
Warm south winds were slow to warm things up Saturday, especially along the Columbia River, but most of Clark County is ice free today. Ice will linger in the gorge, however; I hope the big thaw will begin there today.
I know it was touch and go for many of you getting those last-minute errands accomplished and probably encountering some delays in making the long drive to Grandma’s house for Christmas.
Thank goodness we return to “normal” the next week or so. That translates to rain and more rain. Add windy conditions, too, and we receive December’s other side of wet.
The high snow levels will slowly drop Wednesday back down to the passes, and a fresh powder buildup will return to the higher ski areas. I don’t see a return to arctic air in the foreseeable future. It is still extremely cold in far northern British Columbia, so as always, we’ll keep an eye peeled for an advancement southward toward us. So only wet and windy weather into the new year.
With King tides along the coast and potential 60- to 80-mph winds Tuesday, coastal flooding is on tap. If you travel to the beach to watch the massive waves, be careful. It will be dangerous.
I hope those weather enthusiasts received a weather gadget or two for Christmas — perhaps an electronic outdoor thermometer or a new weather station. So many electronic weather instruments are available at reasonable prices these days, which is great, as we certainly will add more weather observers. It’s a great hobby and pastime.
Freezing rain began around 9 a.m. Saturday, but Vancouver’s temperature had risen to 31 degrees, so at that time we were almost out of the messy stuff. We were still about 3 inches of rain below average for the month; however, with several incoming storms this week, we may end up average on the rainfall.
Again, happy holidays. Be safe, and take good care.
