(Kind of) warmer weather on the way
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 2 months AGO
File photo Frozen raindrops march across the grill of a car after a freezing rainstorm last winter. At least for a few days, freezing rain, or other kinds of precipitation, should be in the rear-view mirror in the Columbia Basin.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | January 5, 2018 2:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — So – the East Coast is coping with an epic storm, heavy snow, hurricane-force winds, possible flooding along the coast, airports closed, roads impassable. Snow in South Carolina and Florida.
So that little bit of freezing rain doesn’t seem nearly so bad, does it?
In fact, Ron Miller, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Spokane, said the weather in the Columbia Basin is going to improve, at least a little. “We will be gradually warming up,” Miller said, with temperatures above freezing by Friday and Saturday.
However, even if the air temperature is above 32 degrees it could still be cold at ground level. Subfreezing temperatures have been around for most of the last 10 days, and it will take a while for the ground to warm up, he said. “Especially at night.”
The warm temperatures might be misleading, he added. And it’s especially important for motorists and pedestrians, because a road or sidewalk might be wet in one spot but icy in another.
So far in winter 2017-18, the upper Midwest has experienced heavy snow and subzero temperatures. The Thursday storm on the East Coast actually got a name, like a hurricane – or at least it got a last name; it was called Grayson. And there’s that aforementioned snow in the deep South. And so far in the West, it’s been cold in some spots, but not subzero cold, and that heavy snow has pretty much skipped the whole West Coast entirely.
That’s partly due to a change in the high-altitude winds known as the jet stream. The jet stream has moved north, at least for the early part of winter. That pushes the storms “up and over the western United States and into Canada,” Miller said. Only then is the jet stream turning south, pushing cold, snowy, icy weather so far south they’re making snowmen in South Carolina.
Miller said the best chance for precipitation in the Columbia Basin is Friday night, with gradually diminishing chances for snow and rain over the weekend. The possibility of any kind of precipitation drops to 20 percent by Monday, with a slightly higher chance on Tuesday.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.