It was a stormy day around Western Washington Saturday as a cold front was dropping down from British Columbia. Winds were in the 35- to 40-mph range west of the Cascades and 40-50 mph along the coast and in the Columbia Basin. Today showers dwindle and we bring the new year in Monday night with dry weather. The first day of January will be cool and dry before a couple weak weather systems head our way later in the week.
The cold front took a while to reach Vancouver and Clark County on Saturday, as we were the last to receive the rain and wind. Nothing spectacular, just a normal winter storm. We were expecting about one-half inch of rain.
As of Saturday afternoon, Vancouver had 4.47 inches in the rain gauge. If we get a half-inch more that would place us at 5 inches for the month, still a bit below average but better than I thought. Weather watcher Phil Delany, who lives above Dole Valley in our foothills, reported Saturday afternoon with 12.40 inches, which is below average for that area as well.
I guess one bonus of those southerly winds were the balmy afternoon temperatures for late December. At 2 p.m. Saturday it was 52 degrees in Vancouver, nearly 10 degrees above average. We are in our coldest period from now through Jan. 15. It will drop down to normal the first half of the week as things dry out somewhat.
