I have good news and bad news to write about today. The good news is, the weather is looking great for the coming week. The bad news is, well, perhaps most of the bad news is behind us and that would be good news.
We have an atmospheric river aimed at the Pacific Northwest, a concentrated stretch of moisture streaming across the Pacific from the east coast of Japan. We used to call something like this a Pineapple Express, which usually streams up from the Hawaiian Islands.
But you will hear the term “atmospheric river” more often now in the weather business. As the event began Saturday, we expected 2 to 5 inches of rain in Clark County, with the lesser amounts near the city center and the highest in the foothills. It was expected to be windy, with south winds of 25-45 mph, and 45-60 mph along the coastal strip.
Streams will be murky and high today just about everywhere. A warm air mass is associated with this storm, and it was already raining at pass levels Saturday afternoon. Even Timberline will transition out of snow and into rain before all is said and done.
