If you were up a bit early Friday morning, you may have seen the brief band of snow flurries that teased the overcast skies. In those twilight hours, some of you in the higher elevations in the eastern portion of Clark County had a shallow dusting of the white stuff. Temperatures around the county were close to or below freezing. More conversational snow.
As I write my column Friday afternoon, we may have had another short burst of conversational snow early today, and folks in higher elevations around the area may have enough to measure. Moisture is limited and temperatures marginal, so no widespread lasting snow event. Sunday will see partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures.
I am watching a possible “back door” rush of modified arctic air via our friendly easterly winds out of the Gorge. Arctic air that was hovering along the northern border of our state showed signs of advancing southward. This would be a greater intrusion into the Columbia Basin than what we had a couple of days ago. If forecast charts are correct, expect highs most of next week to struggle to get out of the 30s. Overnight lows will dip into the teens and twenties.
The east winds are not expected to be that strong but will be in the 25-to-35-mph range at the western end of the Gorge. That translates to somewhat lighter winds east of Interstate 205 and calmer in the western portions of the county. With cold air settling in over us, we’ll be watching for moisture arriving at our front door off the Pacific. Some computer models indicate that on Thursday and Valentine’s Day, we may have wintry precipitation before warmer temperatures arrive.
