“Writing this column Monday afternoon all I could see were possibilities of snow but amounts were just a dice roll. Sounds like a reason for a ‘now cast’ doesn’t it? Probably will be.”
Well that was my famous last words for Tuesday’s column and that pretty much describes the situation. Most all computer forecast models missed even the booby prize on the snow totals.
There was one that indicated about 8 inches of snow, but of course that was thrown out the door as in the realm of unbelievable.
Between 8 and 15 inches of new snow covered much of Clark County as daylight broke Wednesday. Just exactly where were we? Had we been transported to the mountains or maybe the Midwest? Nope, that was heavy snow encasing the delights of kids and kids at heart.
The low-pressure system that arrived a few hours early Tuesday entangled with cold east winds from the Gorge and well, the rest is history. The warmer moist air rode up and over the lower cold layers steaming down the Columbia and produced massive amounts of snowfall. That is what we call “lifting” in the weather business. And the weather front didn’t go anywhere.
The last time we had this much snow on the ground here in the lowlands was in December 2008. Previous heavy snowfalls occurred in the winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80. Historic is what you could call it. Enough snow in the greater Vancouver-Portland metro area to shut just about everything down. Certainly no rush hour. Who was in a hurry?
We stay frozen until the weekend and we slowly moderate above freezing Saturday and Sunday. The weather pattern changes and we go into a mild and wet pattern. Heavy rain Tuesday will melt most of the snow and raise river levels to bank-full or beyond.
Students and teachers already extending the school year well into June will add a few more days. If we have more winter-type weather the schools could be busy until July.
Enjoy the snowy landscape before Frosty melts and comes back another day!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://patricktimm.com.