Dry November Continues Into December

Was November a cool month, or a warm month?

The answer depends on the fog.

Marilyn Lohmann meteorologist with the National Weather Service said stretches of the Inland Northwest, including the Columbia Basin and Walla Walla, saw up to 15 days of fog last month, holding temperatures between two and four degrees below normal.  However, areas that didn’t see fogy skies recorded temperatures above average.

Regardless of temperature, Lohmann says the entire region lacked precipitation.

“Unfortunately for a lot of people [November] was an extremely dry period, and also the soil moistures just have not recovered very well at all.”

Lohmann added it was one of the driest Novembers for a variety of places, including Pullman, Yakima, Omak and Cle Elum.

Will we see a change anytime soon?

Lohmann said a system is expected to roll in from the Pacific, this weekend, but it will do little more than push the fog out of the region.

“But that’s followed up by a ridge of high pressure that looks to extend out into the eight to 14 day period, and I think we’ll kind of see near normal temperatures, but normal to below normal precipitation, and then on through the rest of December, we’re expected to see those above normal temperatures.”

Lohmann added the expectation is for precipitation below normal for the month of December.

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