By Gordon McCraw, Meteorologist for the Tillamook County Pioneer
Boom, and just like that, we are into December. Just weeks away from the start of Winter though, with the low temperature this morning dipping into the mid and upper 20s, you would think it is here already. The high pressure ridge I was talking about last week is still dominating our weather pattern, now giving us sunny skies, calm winds, with highs in the low 50s. Tonight, we will see mostly clear skies again, calm winds, and the low temperature dropping back down into the upper 20s.
The ridge remains firmly in place over the area tomorrow and Wednesday, so you get to enjoy the mostly sunny to sunny skies some more, the calm winds, afternoon high temperatures in the low to mid 50s. With the mostly clear nights and calm winds still, lows remain in the upper 20s to low 30s.
Here is where some model disagreement starts, but it looks like a trough of low pressure will ride over and flatten the ridge which would push in some clouds by early Thursday morning, making some rain likely Thursday, the high temperatures up near 56. Cloudy and rainy still Thursday night, the lows only down into the mid 40s.
The system slowly rides into and over the area Friday so more rain likely, highs near 58, lows near 45, then the system drifts to the east Saturday, but we still see the clouds and rain, but the temperatures turning a little cooler with highs near 55 Saturday, lows near 41.
Still a chance of rain under partly sunny skies on Sunday, the high near 52, lows near 38. But, as I mentioned, there are some models that keep the ridge dominating the pattern all week which would mean the rain gets shunted to the north, which would reduce the rain chance for our area.
Lastly….Christmas T minus 23 days and counting!