Happy New Year!

2018 is in the books and in a single weather word, it was... DRY. Not just dryer than average, bone dry semi-desert dry. But Rod, you live in Western Washington, how dry could it be? How about a paltry 25.32 inches of rain in the calendar year 2018. Yes precipitation years are measured like school years so we are only a couple of month's into the 2018-19 water year., but none-the-less 2018 was semi-arid and that total is barely better than half my 17 year average for precipitation.

While on the subject of precipitation, December ended up with a dry 4.25 inches of rain and just a spattering of snowfall that came in a light wintry mix on the 9th. That is barely over half my typical December rainfall number. The soggiest day delivered nearly an inch of rain, that came on the 18th with 0.95 inch. We had a total of 15 days with some rain and 7 days with sunshine. Nearly half of the wet days produced a quarter inch or more.

On the temperature front, the month was toasty warm compared to a "normal" December. Month 12 only produced 7 subfreezing lows and every day managed to get above the freezing mark. In fact, all but 2 days pushed the merc above 40 degrees. Despite the month being some 3 degrees warmer by day and night than average, there were no real warm days. The warmest temp I measured was a nice 56.5° on the 18th but that came with all that rain. The warmest overnight low was 45.5° also on the 18th. That was some pineapple express happening there. The coldest morning low arrived on the 6th with a 23.2°, nowhere near any kind of record but it was the chilliest December 6th since 2005. The coldest daytime high was closer to a typical high measuring 39.6° on the 9th.

Looking ahead to the rest of the winter, we are not looking good on snowfall, rainfall, and temps are running warmer by more than just a little bit. Things can change quickly and we have yet to have an outbreak of arctic air. I would expect at least one bout with a cold air mass dipping south into the Pacific Northwest and odds are some sticking snow will arrive during the next 6 weeks.

In the mean time, Happy New Year and hello 2019. Let's all continue to soak it up, my friends, soak it up.

Holidays at the Beach

This article was posted today on my Coastal Living Blog. This is Storm Watching Time!

The holidays at the beach can be either busy or quiet depending on where you go. December is one of the 'stormier' months and tends to attract storm watchers from the inland areas. Winter storms hit the coast with a special kind of vigor that is not often seen in the Portland Metro Area.

The temperature tends to be a bit warmer along the coast as the mighty Pacific Ocean moderates things a bit. But the rain and wind can come like a tropical storm, sans the warm temps of course. This is winter at the Beach.

As for the holidays the usual buzz can be felt at stores and commercial areas. The Long Beach Peninsula however is much more quiet on the roadways during the Holidays than in big cities like Portland and Vancouver. That can be very nice.

Be sure to head out to Long Beach for the New Year's Eve fireworks on the beach. A five minute deluge of mighty booms and sparks will welcome in 2018 at mid night.

That's all I got this time round, see you next year.

A wee bit of snow...

We awoke to a little bit of wintery precipitation this morning. All over the region a very light dusting of snow and in some areas sleet greeted us. I had less than one half inch on the ground and it quickly washed out as the temperature crested the freezing mark. I think we have warmer air aloft and that means this will all likely washout this afternoon.

Some of the weather models are suggesting a white New Year so we will just have to see how that pans out. This is the thirteenth winter I have recorded the weather at my East Vancouver location and snow at the New year seems to be much more likely than a white Christmas. I have recorded snowfall five times the week of the New Year versus just twice the week of Christmas. What a difference a week makes.

Happy Holidays to all of you.