Weather Eye: Expect short break in chilly weather toward end of week

We have a very chilly air mass over us and I am sure you can feel it. Even with a bit of sunshine Monday, the air had a nip in it for mid-April. Daytime warming destabilized the cold air aloft and there was significant cloud buildup and resulting scattered showers. There were reports of ice pellets and even light snow in some parts of western Washington.

In Spokane, it snowed off and on all day Monday and snow showers will be in the forecast the next couple of days. The cold air should move off to the east and maybe, just maybe, we might inch up to “normal,” which is 60 degrees for a high temperature, on Friday.

Meanwhile, any clearing overnight will lead to more frost, which most of the area experienced early Monday. Lows at freezing were recorded in the inner city and down in the 20s in the urban locations.

The break in the weather Friday and early Saturday will be short-lived as more wet weather returns, along with another cooling trend. Easter egg hunts on Sunday might be planned for indoors just in case.

The cold air isn’t just covering the Pacific Northwest. Cold air is streaming into the central U.S. and may cause more severe weather this week. Recent tornadoes have been just horrifying and the worst in several years. Many folks escaped injury with their National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radios. It is a good idea to have one here locally as well. For more information on radios, go to: www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/radio.php.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the Oregon Chapter of the American Meteorology Society will hold their monthly meeting at Stark Street Pizza in Portland. Members and the public are invited. For details go to: http://www.ametsoc.org/chapters/oregon.

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