Weather Eye: April showers arrive as March goes out, possibly, as a lion

Ah, the last day of March is upon us. And what a month it was despite above-average rainfall. No worry, we had some fine sunny days in between. Even a few bursts of high-elevation snowfall for the spring skiers.

So will today go out like a lion, keeping step with old folklore? March came in like a gentle lamb remember? At least it was a dry day on March 1. A weak cold front moved through last night and will present us with some on again, off again rain showers. But listen closely, you may hear the lion roar after all.

That would be in the form of thunderstorms. Maybe some small hail thrown in as icing on the cake. Snow levels drop again and the ski areas get what they need. They will be in the snow zone the rest of the week.

As April takes center stage Wednesday, showers will continue with a brief dry spell Thursday, and then forecast models keep us in a cool, showery pattern into next week. It will be a traditional April, I believe.

We had 4.67 inches of rain in the bucket as of Monday evening and if we get a third of an inch of rain today, we top five inches. Not too shabby for March. It is surprising that we are not further below average in the rainfall department than we are. Not counting today, we were 1.77 inches below average since the start for the water year October 1. Since Jan. 1, we are about an inch below average.

So many warm, sunny days makes us forget about all that rain at times. Local rainfall reports will start coming to my in box in a day or so. It will be fun to see the spread of rainfall around the county.

Take good care and we will chat on a sunny Thursday (hopefully). Oh, it will be cooler this week with highs closer to normal and slightly below. Keep the jacket handy.

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