Weather Eye: Pair of weak systems will give way to warmer, dry weather

After a few downpours on Tuesday, the weather calmed down Wednesday with some scattered high clouds moving through at times. It was chilly Wednesday morning, with most lows around the area in the 30s. I received many reports of frost on the rooftops in the outlying regions.

We had thunder, lightning and hail — and even a few reports of funnel clouds — Tuesday afternoon.

It is autumn but frost is occurring before the average first frost in many neighborhoods. The official low in Vancouver was 36 degrees at Pearson Field. It was colder around our state in a couple of towns. On the west side, Shelton dipped to 29 degrees as did Pullman on the east side.

Temperatures will remain below normal for a few days as we continue under a north to northwesterly flow of air. Between 3-8 inches of snow fell in the higher Cascades in both Washington and Oregon.

Another weak weather system moves through today, with plenty of clouds and a few sprinkles, as well as light showers at the coast. Rainfall will be spotty inland and light — under a 10th of an inch, if any at all. At least that is the plan as I write this Wednesday afternoon.

It is possible another system floats through Saturday but there won’t be much in the rain department. By Monday, we should see temperatures warm up near seasonal norms and things will remain dry into early next week.

I’m thinking we will have an early start to our ski season and a good chance of low elevation snow this winter.

See you on Sunday!

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