More snow may be on the way

MOSES LAKE — So – snow, followed by bitter cold last weekend, followed by just enough warmth to cause freezing rain in Grant County Monday night. By the way, winter starts today.

The current weather forecast includes the possibility of snow Thursday and – well, after that it’s still a little hazy. It could snow Friday or maybe not, there could be rain or snow over Christmas weekend. Or maybe not.

Snow totals of an inch or so are forecast for Thursday. It’s pretty clear that another weather front is headed for the Pacific Northwest on Friday and maybe for the weekend, said Steve Bodnar, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. “There’s still some modeling uncertainty as to how and how much,” he said, whether it will be rain or snow and which regions will experience the most precipitation. “That one does carry a high degree of uncertainty.”

There’s a better chance for snow, rather than rain, Thursday and Friday in northern Grant County, Bodnar said. There’s a relatively higher chance of rain south of I-90.

After high temperatures above freezing Tuesday afternoon (although with winds that made it feel colder), temperatures will drop back close to 32 degrees Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. That makes snow more likely, as opposed to rain or freezing rain, Bodnar said.

Monday night’s freezing rain marked the dividing line between rain and snow – the transition zone stretched from Yakima to Moses Lake. North of that line was snow; to the south it rained. Except in that lucky little area where it was freezing rain.

Conditions have to be just right for freezing rain. It requires cold air close to the surface, Bodnar said, with warmer, fast-moving, precipitation-laden air above. When the rain falls through the cold air it hits the ground and freezes, “as long as (the layer of cold air) is deep enough,” he said.

It wasn’t much freezing rain, just enough to leave sidewalks, parking lots roads and cars glacéed with a sheet of ice. Slick slippery ice.

The Christmas season is one of the biggest travel periods of the year, and for many people it’s a three-day weekend to boot. The Washington Department of Transportation has compiled a chart detailing peak travel times on major routes, available on the WDOT website. They also suggest taking extra travel time, and to check weather reports when making travel plans.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.