Weather Eye: Showers likely to linger into weekend; air quality week nears

Even with a fairly moderate onshore flow of air we have seen some blue skies and sunshine. Not the 80-degree weather like we had Monday, but still not too bad. Our average high is 63 degrees so we are not too far off.

A weak weather system moves closer today for showers lingering through Friday and maybe Saturday morning. Sunday and Monday look nice with seasonal temperatures. Freezing levels will be low.

Looking at forecast charts through the end of April and into early May, I will keep the chance of showers on any given day. No worry, though, we have to keep the April theme in play (April showers). Any rainfall we get will not be on the heavy side. It will be cool but near seasonal highs at times.

There were a few scattered light showers around Wednesday but nothing measurable in Vancouver as of 5 p.m. April’s total of 1.54 inches is nearly three-quarters of an inch below average. We are running less than 1 degree below average at 50.6 degrees.

Whenever you have a cold trough of low pressure spinning in the Gulf of Alaska, one cannot predict too far out with any accuracy. Timing is everything.

Air Quality Awareness Week begins Monday and runs through May 1. The weather conditions should be favorable in our region for keeping things stirred up. Not so in summer and winter months, when we can have those pesky inversions and stagnant conditions. To learn more about things that help the planet go to www.epa.gov/airnow/airaware.

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