Weather Eye: No white Christmas for us, but it will be colder next week

A most welcome break from the Saturday deluge and no complaints in the weather department Monday. High temperatures are running some 10 degrees above average for December.

It’s a good thing Santa’s sleigh is equipped for non-covered ground (always wheels) as our Christmas Eve will be wet, not white. But nevertheless, Santa will arrive on time just fine. We will enjoy yet another green Christmas, not like the white one six years ago.

Winter Solstice arrived, so the longest night has passed. After the holidays we’ll notice the longer hours of daylight.

We didn’t get as much warm rain in the higher elevations as predicted, so Mount Hood will be running limited ski operations over the holidays. Their gift will be more snow on Christmas Eve, maybe lingering into Christmas Day, and a little more in the days following. Snow levels will drop, and many at higher elevations will enjoy a white Christmas.

Beyond Christmas, expect highs by Monday or Tuesday barely cracking 40 degrees and overnight lows frosty. There is always a chance we could get some chilly modified arctic air next week or just be chilly. Either way, the 50s and 60s will be gone.

With the on-again, off-again rain this month, Vancouver was sitting at just about normal for the month as of 5 p.m. Monday with 4.74 inches. We’re still running mild for the month with the average mean temperature at 44.5 degrees, 3.6 degrees above average.

We’ll see how much rain we get out of the storm tonight and Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays, and we will chat on Christmas Day!

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