Springing back into wintry weather
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By PAT TIMM, for The ColumbianSaturday sure turned out to be a fine spring day with hazy sunshine and highs reaching 60 degrees or better. It was a bit breezy in East County and along the river, but hey, at least it was dry. Not so today, as a cold air mass settles in over the area with showers and snow in the mountains. I recorded a high of 63 degrees Saturday after a low of 28 degrees, a remarkable 35 degree temperature difference. The east winds helped to warm the lower levels of the atmosphere even though they added a bit of wind chill to the air.
Today begins another period of cold and showery weather with low snow levels continuing all week. Computer models indicate a very cold air mass late in the week working its way across British Columbia with very low snow levels, so stay tuned. I wrote in Friday’s column about heavy snows in March of 1951 for the local area and Seattle. The Emerald City measured 18.2 inches back then and Portland officially recorded 12.9 inches.
Snow was mixed with the rain locally during a heavy squall around 7 p.m. last Thursday; sticking snow was reported down to 500 feet around western Washington. Snow fell near Aberdeen and in some northern Oregon coastal communities. Yes, March can be a fickle month, acting like spring one moment and winter the next.
Pat Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach him at weathersystems.com. | 
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