Weather Eye: Storm ushers out a wet November; will December be white?

November went out with a bang Friday evening, as a rather vigorous squall line moved through before midnight with gusty winds and heavy rain, putting some local rain amounts over the edge. November rainfall reports are coming in to me and I will report them this week. They are impressive — well above November normals. Rainfall totals in the foothills were between 15 and 25 inches. Yep that is a lot of water!

Vancouver’s total at Pearson Field was 7.16 inches, 1.25 inches above average. Portland airport had 8.23 inches, 2.60 inches above average.

Another juicy storm was forecast to arrive Saturday night and Sunday with heavy rains, strong winds along the ocean beaches and, in the Cascades, heavy snow at last. It could be 12 to 16 inches including the passes.

Earlier it looked like we could get some strong winds here, but models as of Saturday afternoon keep any strong wind south of Portland. Still, it could be windy. The rest of the week looks unsettled with more rain and breezes.

When we will get a taste of winter here in the lowlands? As of Saturday, I don’t see any chance of snow but it could drop as low as 2,000 feet later next week. So, keep dreaming of a white Christmas!

Now that we are into December, it is officially winter for us weather folks while the rest of you wait for the solstice, Dec. 21 at 3:12 am.

The brilliant full moon we had last week was the Full Beaver moon, our next, on Dec. 28, is called the Full Cold moon. How cold will we be when it rises? Stay tuned.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.