After Saturday’s washout, Sunday was fairly nice. At least we didn’t have water running curb to curb and pelting against the window pane. It was another nice break yesterday with only a few sprinkles in the early morning hours. Despite plenty of cloudiness, we still managed to get into the 60s, well above average for November.
Today we could see us get close to 70 degrees once again like we did on Friday. Amazing. Hard to believe it is November, which is usually the first cold and wet month before we enter the winter season. The rest of the week doesn’t look too bad as the jet stream stays north. However, that doesn’t mean we get clear, sunny skies. There will be varying amounts of clouds and maybe a sprinkle of rain. The next significant rainfall is set for Friday and the weekend — at least as I look at computer forecast models while writing this column Monday afternoon.
For the first full week of November, Vancouver has measured 1.03 inches of rain, about two-tenths of an inch below average. The average mean temperature is 6.9 degrees above normal at 56.1. If it wasn’t for that inch of rain Saturday, we would be running much below average in that department.
So if you have time this week, it would be a good, dry opportunity to clean up the yard and maybe start installing your holiday lightning while the air temperatures are warm. I know many have installed and then wait for the day after Thanksgiving to turn them on. I remember so many years not taking my own advice and out there in sub-freezing temperatures doing it. No thanks.
After a nice dump of snow on the local peaks a week or two ago, one can see the snow line rising as warm temperatures invade the mountain slopes. We often get a good snowstorm in the Cascades in October but it rarely lasts as things do warm up.
I am still thinking we could change to a cooler air mass as we head toward Thanksgiving. If so, the mountains would regain their lofty mantle of white. We’ll chat on Thursday.
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at patricktimm.com.