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Weather Eye: We’ve made up for lack of rain, and more is on the way

The Columbian
Published: January 21, 2012, 4:00pm

I hope you enjoyed the “break” on Saturday, as Sunday will be another stormy day with more rain, mountain snows and breezy conditions, especially along the coast.

We’ll snag another break on Monday, and then it will be rather wet and stormy Tuesday through Thursday with higher freezing levels and copious amounts of rain in the lowlands, so maybe more flooding?

Beyond that, computer models diverge and we could go into another period of benign weather with high pressure or continue on the cool and wet regime. Time will tell as we get closer.

Meanwhile, we sure made up for lost time in the rain department. As of 5 p.m. Saturday, Vancouver had 4.87 inches in the rain bucket so far this month. That is over an inch above average. Temperatures are running below normal, with the average mean temperature for January at 39.5 degrees, 1.6 degrees below average.

You have to admit it was a wild ride the past seven days, especially to our neighbors up north, where they were locked in a deep freeze almost the entire time. Many records were set with daily snowfalls, Sea-Tac was closed down and power crews struggled to get the lights back on, with some folks out of power for days.

I had to chuckle at a photo I saw on the Internet of a Hawaiian Airlines jet, surrounded by piles of snow and grounded at Sea-Tac. Passengers were waiting to get on and fly somewhere nice and warm, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. At least for a while; wow, how disappointing.

“Secure loose objects!” The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Portland had that phrase on their Web page Saturday afternoon. Also, a caution to beachgoers: Not only are the coastal beaches expecting winds gusting between 65-75 mph Sunday, huge swells will be hitting the beaches, as well. Swells of 30-35 feet are forecast Sunday, making it an awesome but potentially hazardous day to watch the stormy conditions. If you head down there, you may wish to stay off the beach and watch from a safe, higher location.

Enjoy your week; keep dry and keep safe.

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

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