One BBQ Day

 

Mark Thursday.  Refill your Mug to find out why.

 

Stormy Monday ahead, with a slow return to mild Spring weather by Wed.  Thunderstorms & intense showers will rule today and this evening.  Windy, too.  A deep - for April - Low (~976 mb) that generated our current storm is moving onshore just north of Vancouver Island.  As such, the winds will continue to be gusty today.  The air aloft is cold, so any sunshine that peaks through will cause ‘lift’ and set off strong isolated showers or thunderstorms.  In the PNW under these conditions, small tornadoes and/or powerful isolated wind gusts occur   Stay alert if outdoors.  Things will calm down as Tue gets underway, yielding a pleasant couple of days midweek.  In fact, Thursday Apr 7 could present western locations with the warmest day of the year, thus far.  Willamette Valley may top 70-75 F.  First Spring BBQ time.

 

This Thu night, a weak system will clip the far NW corner of WA / Vancouver Is. - showers.  That colder air will begin to shuttle into the rest of the PNW as Palm Sunday weekend gets underway.   Onshore breeze will kick-up notably, and temps will drop.  Jackets will be needed by Palm Sunday, with snow level dropping below the passes.  Fortunately, there will not be much moisture, so mountain travelers will get along fine.  If the sky clears in your location, FROST is possible Monday morning, Apr 11.  

 

Split outlook for Mon-Wed Apr 11-13.  One scenario -  another weak, but warmer disturbance may clip the PNW late Tue night into Wed; scattered showers / cloudiness likely, with mild, dry conditions to end the week; the other scenario calls for a cold storm to form and push onshore later on Monday, setting up a breezy and chilly Tue/Wed, with continued damp wx through Tax Day.  Coin flip accuracy.

 

Easter Weekend.  Well, the threat of more cold conditions this Easter has been trending off the charts; so, maybe it was an April Fool’s joke after all?  Seriously, a relatively dry & fairly mild weekend is what model solutions present of late.  However, best to plan on some rainfall or showers for now, as that remains the prevailing solution.  We’ll have time to find consistency for what the weather will be like on Easter.  Patience.