Coat Time

The comfortable Spring-like weather has passed.  Time for coats again.  

Cold air is making its way into the PNW.  Lots of low elevation - not surface - snow will be the story for the next couple of weeks, as a cold pattern is modeled to settle in for the extended period.  The colder air is still setting up to arrive later today into Tue, with a short period of slightly warmer temps mid-week until the next, stronger, cold front pushes onshore by Thu.  Plenty of rain, too.  The weekend ahead looks wet and quite chilly, with mix of rain, rain/snow, and snow above 500 -1,000 ft.  

Side Bar: The higher sun angle this time of year, combined with very cold air aloft, will trigger rapid ‘lift’ of air ‘packets’ generating thunder, lightning, rain, snow, small hail, and ’soft balls’ of snow & ice called graupel.  If the storm ‘cell’ is intense enough and lasts a bit, surface air can cool enough to change surface precip to all snow.  Accumulations are not likely to be much above an inch or so, given the above-freezing ground temps, but don’t be surprised to see The White, at times.  

After the coming weekend, models keep cold air over the eastern Pacific & Gulf of Alaska, which will continue to spin-off fronts of rain and/or snow, at times, into the PNW.  Windy, too.  Any travel over the coast range, Siskiyou or Cascade ranges will be treacherous.  The pattern for Mar 4-12 looks quite wet, breezy, and loaded with feet of mountain snowfall.  

Overall, the weather for early March will be the “Lion” of the month.  Hopefully, the “Lamb” and 60 degree wx will show up late March.  In the meantime, grab a coat.