Fog to linger – until it snows

But hey, that’s winter

MOSES LAKE — It’s hard to accept, but sometimes there are no good choices. Current winter weather is a case in point.

There’s been a lot of fog out there the last 10 days or so – gray gloomy days, black gloomy nights, poor visibility during the day and icy roads at night and during the morning. That’s due to what weather professionals call a stagnant weather pattern.

Robin Fox, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane, said it’s been pretty quiet in the upper atmosphere. “We just haven’t had any big storms.”

That bright sunny Sunday was the product of a north wind that pushed out the stagnant air, she said, but the wind died down by evening. The fog returned and conditions around Quincy were so bad the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had to issue an alert asking drivers to slow down and use headlights.

It’s been humid, which has played a role. “We’re dealing with a lot of moisture at ground level and a very stable atmosphere,” Fox said. That means fog – not everywhere, just here and there. Then drop the temperature below freezing (like Sunday night) and roads can get very icy in spots. But not everywhere, which makes getting from point A to point B even more challenging.

The NWS office in Spokane is forecasting Tuesday and Wednesday as the last patchy-foggy-icy days for a while. And what happens Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning? Why, there’s a reasonable chance it will snow, then rain.

The forecast includes the possibility of a small accumulation of snow, up to two inches depending on the location, although a maximum half-inch accumulation is forecast for the Moses Lake area. The forecast predicts the snow will be followed by rain Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Cloudy skies, with maybe a little sun, is the forecast for the weekend.

So. For the second week in December it’s either foggy or raining. Or snowing. And just for the record, this time of year it’s either stagnant weather patterns and low clouds and fog, or active weather patterns with rain or snow. “That’s winter, isn’t it?” Fox said.

Daytime highs are forecast to be above freezing, maybe even breaking the 40-degree mark on Friday.

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