The weather forecast includes rain and showers and thunderstorms and wind from now through early next week. The rain will be steady at times and other times just showers and a few brief interludes with mostly cloudy skies.
Temperatures won’t vary much with highs and lows between 48 and 58 degrees, so no worries about freezing conditions. With strong southerly winds the snow levels will remain high at or above Timberline Lodge, lowering some by Friday.
As I mentioned here the other day, the first half of this month is one of the coldest starts in decades. Now with the cloudy skies and mild south winds we should make up for that a bit. We will also make up for the lack of rain. I expect 2 inches of rain and double that or more in the local foothills.
Looking at weather charts Wednesday afternoon, some models show a rapid developing low off the coast moving up to Hoquiam. If this occurs, we will see strong winds on the coast and locally in the 30- to 45-mph range. That is just a possibility but stay tuned for weather updates, as it could get rather windy Friday.
Is this the start of the persistent rainy season? One would sure think so. Longer-range forecast charts indicate a strong ridge of high-pressure building, shutting off the water tap late next week. Wishful thinking?
There still isn’t any sure-fire correlation between the cold start to October and a cold winter to follow. However, if you look way back in weather records you can find a cold October like this one in 1949 and 1968. If you are old enough to remember you know what followed. The winter weather was brutal. Plenty of cold east winds and snow and ice.
Even though we are running 5 degrees below normal for our monthly average mean temperature, there is no guarantee we will have a cold winter, although we are certainly overdue for one.
Bundle up and we will chat on Sunday.
Source: https://www.columbian.com
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