Region will see more storm systems this month
Temperatures have been a little bit chillier over the last couple of mornings, but other than that, there hasn’t been much in the way of weather “headlines” across the Inland Northwest.
The snow that occurred back on Nov. 28 – all 1 to 2 inches of it – was the only measurable snow for the month of November. A total of 1.69 inches of precipitation fell at the Spokane airport in November, which is .55 inches less than normal. Coeur d’Alene was quite a bit wetter, with a total of more than 3 inches of precipitation for the month, which was actually slightly above average. But again, almost all of that fell as rain and not snow. Not surprisingly, overall temperatures last month ended up nearly 4 degrees above average.
It does look like the Northwest is in for a bit of a pattern change, with more of a progressive flow across the area during the upcoming week. What that means in layman’s terms, is that we won’t get caught in the stagnant air of large ridge of high pressure, which previously had treated us to many days in a row of low clouds, fog, and drizzle.
The progressive pattern means the door will be open for more frequent storm systems to move through the area, but that also means we’ll likely be keeping most of the really cold air at bay as well. Temperatures should be cold enough that we’ll see at least some snows across the lower elevations, but it doesn’t look like any “big winter storms” for valley locations are on the horizon, at least for the first half of the month. Higher elevations, however, will definitely be seeing more in the way of snow, which will be a benefit to all those ski resorts that have been chomping at the bit to open up for the season.
Once we start seeing more winter weather, get ready for the blitz of watches, advisories and warnings which will light up your TV (or Internet) screens. Though you probably won’t notice unless you’ve really paid attention to weather bulletins in the past, there have been a few changes made in regards to the types of bulletins issued by the National Weather Service. Snow advisories, sleet advisories, blowing snow advisories, and freezing drizzle advisories have all been consolidated into one bulletin called the winter weather advisory.
Likewise, the winter storm warning will take the place of previously issued heavy snow warnings, heavy sleet warnings, or a combination of those weather hazards. Hazards such as freezing rain, blizzards, or dangerous wind chills will still have their own separate bulletins.
The winter season does not officially begin until the Dec. 22, and Mother Nature seems content to keep us waiting. yet.