The cold air mass arrived right on time Tuesday with some moderate to heavy rain reported around the county. In the aftermath of the cold front, showers dominated the skies on Wednesday accompanied by thunder, hail and downpours.
Late afternoon Wednesday, I encountered a thunderstorm in the Salmon Creek/Felida area. The skies were dark as night as the storm arrived, and the heavy rains began. Small pea-size hail fell as well, making its appearance in the bark dust areas and on car tops. The temperature where I was dropped to only 41 degrees.
That shows you how chilly the air aloft was Wednesday. Snow fell in the mountains with over one-half foot at pass levels and over 1 foot in the higher ski areas. Will this trend continue? Remember, mountain snows in October come and go and we wait a few more weeks to get too excited for ski season to launch.
Our weather dries out today through the weekend with sunny skies as clouds slowly clear out. With the clearing and the cold air mass, most locations will get their first frost of the season. It is possible locations near downtown Vancouver may get frost as well, which would be a couple weeks early. We expect east winds to develop so that may deter any frost formation along the Columbia River.
