La Niña Holds On As Winter Starts To Wrap Up

With the start of spring in sight, Old Man winter looks to make his presence known, at least one final time with temperatures dropping during the middle portion of this week. Marilyn Lohmann, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said cold air will move into the PNW Thursday and early Friday morning, with temperatures dropping to 10-15 degrees below normal. But those cold temperatures should be accompanied by dry conditions, as widespread rain and snow is not expected. She noted temperatures should moderate and return to normal by early next week.

While it did not deliver the precipitation many had hoped, Lohmann said La Niña is still in place, and is expected to impact the Pacific Northwest.

“The conditions are expected to persist through the springtime months, but it will be lessening.  It currently still is in place, that water off of South America is in that cold phase, and the wind and current pattern is very similar, but it is starting to weaken.”

Lohmann noted that gives her reason for optimism, since a “normal” La Niña spring cooler and wetter across the region.

“In a nutshell, that might actually be a good thing, because we’re still really trying to come back from that weird, late January and most of February dry spell.  Maybe not all bad.  I would like to see some warmer temperatures, but some moisture in the ground would be good to have too.”

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