Wednesday was another pleasant December day with plenty of afternoon sunshine and high temperatures once again surpassing the 50 degree mark.
The weather system that brought over one-half inch of rain Monday night and Tuesday pushed our monthly total in Vancouver to over 7 inches. With more storms lining up out in the Pacific, it appears that December won’t be following November’s pattern of drying out the latter half of the month.
We have a fast moving weather system on Friday that could dump upward of one-half inch in the county. A break on Saturday but light rain or showers may arrive for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day looks unsettled with rain and chilly temperatures.
No white Christmas for us but a small chance of flurries or freezing rain in the Gorge. The higher ski areas should finally begin the building of the snowpack Christmas and beyond. About time I’d say.
The million dollar question is if we enter a more robust storm track in the Pacific, will it last or do we slide back into a split flow with storms to our north and south?
Yes, we have received plenty of moisture, but it was accompanied by warm tropical air with high freezing levels. Talk about unpredictable.
Our average mean temperature so far this month is running 5 degrees above normal. The trend for months. With no foreseeable cold air between now and New Year’s, it will rank in the top tier of the warmest Decembers. We’ll keep an eye on that and let you know when we look back at the months weather statistics.
Winter officially arrives today, but for us weather folks we are three weeks into the season already. Last year on the first day of winter, east winds arrived and ushered in cold temperatures dropping Clark County into the 20s. The following day, moisture arrived and we had sleet and freezing rain. Remember that? East winds will pick up as winter arrives this evening, but precipitation should be liquid for us in the lowlands this go around.
Get errands done today before more rain Friday. We’ll chat Saturday and look at the last week of the month.
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. ptimmwriter@gmail.com
