Weather Eye: Storms on the horizon through much of week
By Patrick Timm
Published: February 2, 2015, 4:00pm
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Monday was Groundhog Day, the annual tradition of the resident groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, venturing outside in the early morning hours in Punxsutawney, Pa., to brave the elements.
This year, there was an overcast sky as the early morning rain turned to snow showers.
According to officials in the central Pennsylvania town, this allowed old Phil to see his shadow and allowed the mayor to officially announce “six more weeks of winter,” although the light enabling his shadow may have been more from the media lighting than the brightness in the sky.
Regardless, the prediction stands. Glancing at the calendar, there will officially be six more weeks of winter anyway you look at it.
A German legend foretells that when a furry rodent sees his shadow, the weather will act more like winter than spring. And if he doesn’t see his shadow, early spring weather is in the offing.
So much for tales and legends.
Our local furry critters would have not seen their shadow, as a steady light rain fell between the 7 and 8 a.m. hour yesterday morning.
Now, we could use Phil’s prognostication as we really need six weeks of good winter snows in our mountains. I think, however, spring is already entering our region and only glancing blows of winter lie ahead.
About four good storms — with lots of rain — are forecast to reach us from late Wednesday through Monday, first hitting Northern California and moving northward.
Depending on the jet stream and where it drapes the moisture-laden cloud band, that is where the monsoonlike rains will fall.
Heavy rain will fall at times during this period in the Cascades with snow only above the boundaries of the timberline in the Cascade Range.
Good rains will fall from California into British Columbia.
It is always difficult to pinpoint just when and where the heaviest rains will fall until the event unfolds, so stay tuned as always.
Fun fact: According to the official records in Punxsutawney, records from 1887 show that Phil predicted winter 102 times.
I guess winter dominates this time of year more often than not.
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at patricktimm.com.
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