If the chilly air is getting to you, hang on: Our last low in the 20s should be tonight, with highs later this afternoon in the “warm” low 40s.
Friday into next week, we will transition to highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s — and of course, with warmer weather, the rains return. March begins on Tuesday, and it can be feisty at times.
Vancouver didn’t add a new record low to the books Wednesday morning, as east winds continued to blow all night. We did drop to 24 degrees, shy of the record 22 degrees in 2018.
Those of you with sensitive skin, are your knuckles red? Is there static electricity in your house? We rarely see low dewpoints such as we had Wednesday morning. The lowest dewpoint dropped to zero degrees here in Vancouver. This is a measurement of the amount of moisture in the air. It was extremely dry, folks. Not good for us humans, animals and your outdoor plants.
But moist air is quickly heading our way, and this dry arctic cold will be a memory by the end of the weekend. We do have a weak weather system we call an “inside slider” coming down from the interior of British Columbia, which will bring some cloudiness early this morning and perhaps a few flurries. With such dry air, I don’t expect anything more than that. The skies should clear out by evening.
A quick look at lows Wednesday in our state: The coldest of the regular reporting stations were Deer Park with minus 3 degrees on the east side and Olympia with 14 degrees on the west side. Locally, away from the east winds, Yacolt recorded 12 degrees, and the Battle Ground area saw temperatures in the teens.
An old saying for March goes like this: “As it rains in March, so it rains in June.” In March 2012, we had 7.81 inches of rain, followed by 3.47 inches in June. I won’t use that old piece of folklore this year when I write next Tuesday’s column. Forget I even mentioned it.
Stay warm for a short while longer, and then we’ll get back to normal Saturday and beyond.
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. ptimmwriter@gmail.com
