The weather outside feels more like mid-December than early November with our forecasted highs this week in the 40s and lows in the 20s. Remarkable, to say the least, as it was only a little over three weeks ago when it was 87 degrees. Summer to winter. What happened to fall?
The moisture that brought our heavy rains and the cold rain/hail/snow showers that followed around the county has moved off and high pressure built in over us. The highest pressures will be east of the mountains in the Columbia Basin, causing cold and dry east winds to blow through the Gorge. This is a winter pattern, folks. If we had any moisture moving in the next couple of days, we could see snow falling to city levels.
However, we will see welcome sunshine, which will look nice, but any warmth will be tempered by the winds. A cold arctic air mass was dropping into Washington Monday afternoon with Bellingham hovering slightly above freezing with 40 mph northeast winds out of the Fraser River Canyon. Wind chills at 5 p.m. were in the upper teens. It was snowing at Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula and Spokane with gusty northeast winds as the cold air brings the onslaught of winter.
It was chilly along our coastline Monday with temperatures wavering in the 30s and scattered heavy showers pelting the Long Beach Peninsula with areas of hail and snow-covered lawns and roadways. A winter wonderland at the beach. This is quite an unusual weather pattern, about as unusual as the mid-80s for high temperatures we had in October.
