Before we get too far into the weather today, let’s read what I wrote in Thursday’s column: “It was an active weather week, for sure, but at least things will calm down today somewhat before another round of activity begins Friday. Strong, gusty east winds should begin Friday into Saturday as another trough of low pressure approaches offshore. Cool, but not cold, air will filter westward, and snow levels with the bands of moisture will be initially low, so the surrounding foothills could get a few inches of snow. If precipitation falls heavy enough, we could see wet snow to relatively low levels. And barring any freak event during the overnight hours Friday, all should be well.”
I would say everything went according to plan, although those gusty east winds did a job trimming many Douglas fir trees around the county, not to mention scattered power outages, as well. Peak wind gust at Pearson Field in Vancouver was 47 mph, 54 mph in Battle Ground and 66 mph on Larch Mountain.
Snowfall mainly occurred above 1,000 feet, with reports of 1 to 3 inches being common. Here at city levels, if you stayed up late enough, and I mean during the wee hours of 1 to 4 a.m., a mixture of rain, sleet and snow was flying sideways through the darkened air. Being a typical weather geek, I was up and outside and could hear the sleet pinging upon the ground and everything it came in contact with. At times, large snowflakes drifted mysteriously down as if not to be outdone.
But basically, it was a non-event except for the pounding easterly winds. A rather large low spins off the coast all week, and more bands of moisture swing inland, with snow levels quite low again this evening. Christmas Day looks just plain wet and soggy outside but bright and cheery inside, I’m sure.
