Weather Eye: March goes out like a lion; weekend looks mild

Welcome to the month of April and I promise no foolery in this column today.

Although the last day of March wasn’t all that bad weather-wise, it still felt like winter with blustery winds, cool temperatures and scattered showers. Snow levels were below the passes and there were a couple of reports of thunder around Western Washington. I’ll place it in the lion category. March went out like a lion. Now it is official, ha-ha.

Showers and cool weather linger today and Wednesday before the cold trough of low pressure off our coast slides southward and out of the region. This opens the door for higher pressure to build and temperatures will respond with highs warming into the 60s and 70s Friday through Monday. At least spring break for our local schools won’t be a total bust this year. Showers the first half and fair weather Thursday through Sunday. A compromise with nature.

More unsettled weather is on tap for next week. After all, we must keep those April showers going for all those beautiful May flowers, right? I mentioned earlier that the first half of April appeared to be a continuation of March weather but hopefully in the second half of April we see some warm weather.

Last week on March 26 we reached a high of 81 degrees in Vancouver prior to those expected thunderstorms that fizzled out. That was good enough to set a record for the date and establish our first 80-degree high temperature for the year. We have had cooler years. In 2012 Vancouver didn’t reach the 70s until the third week in April. And in 2011 it wasn’t until June before we saw highs in the 70s. Our average high temperature now is 59 degrees, and it will reach 60 degrees next week. Hope is on the horizon.

As of early Monday afternoon, Vancouver had 4.17 inches of rain for the month compared to the average for all of March at 3.95 inches. We’ll end up a little above normal. The average mean temperature for March was 49.5 degrees, 2.3 degrees above normal. A somewhat mild and wet month I’d say.

April is my favorite spring month maybe because it is my birthday month as well, but despite its unpredictable characteristics it is a divine pleasure when blue skies and sunshine appear. Enjoy your week and get the sunglasses ready.