Wet drought, cool weather ahead

As many suspected, with the rapid decline of El Nino and the progress of spring, weather patterns have changed, open to wetter weather in the Northwest.

Over the next 10 days, expect plenty of rain, seasonally cool temperatures and even heavy snowfall in the mountains.

NOAA’s official forecast for the next 6-10 days says it all (see below), with wetter than normal conditions and colder than normal temperatures in our area.

A severe weather system arrives tomorrow, bringing a wet day. Rainfall totals as of Friday morning at 5 a.m. are shown below. The entire area has good moisture with some western slopes 2-3 inches thick. That’s a lot for late April.

But this is just the beginning, with more wet systems coming in the coming week. Total accumulation as of next Saturday morning (May 4) was impressive, with an area greater than 3 inches. Remember that you need to multiply that number by about 10 to get snowfall in the mountains.

At higher elevations, temperatures will be cold enough for significant snow and accumulation through May 4. Some mountain locations will see several feet of new snow.

I suspect snow levels will increase to about 80% of normal in Washington State and more than 100% of normal in much of Oregon within about 10 days.

The NOAA River Forecast Center’s latest forecast for the next 10 days is for river levels to be near normal. For example, consider the Snoqualmie River (below). Below normal now, but close to normal over the next few days…and stay that way.

This and subsequent wet periods are timed to ensure adequate water levels this summer.

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