March-Like Weather to Continue
The weather we’ve seen for the last week or so, with highs in the low 60s punctuated by days with thunderstorms is closer to what you would see in March, rather than in early January. Nevertheless, it’s likely to continue through the end of the month.
A strong Pacific jet stream is keeping the Northwestern US soggy. Yesterday was the first day since December 17th that it hasn’t rained in Seattle. This pattern is bringing storms east every few days. Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure over the Atlantic allows moist air from the Gulf of Mexico into the Southeast, keeping us warmer than normal. When the cold front behind the storm passes through, we get rain and a chance of thunder.
We’ll see this scenario play out again on Tuesday, and possibly again on Saturday. Although less definite, we’re likely to see the same thing again next week, bringing us close to the end of the month. Temperatures are likely to remain about ten degrees above normal, with a few exceptions, for the period.
If this were March, I would say that Winter was on its last legs, with the cold Canadian air losing out to increasing warmth in the south from the longer days. Even though the sun has finally started to rise earlier in the morning, winter has a long way to go, and there is plenty of time for the overall pattern to change to something that more resembles traditional winter.
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