Photo by Jeff Clemens
The east coast was pummelled for much of the past week and a half with frigid temperatures reaching -60 degrees with several feet of snow dumped on many locations. The polar vortex pushed frigid arctic air south covering most of the middle or eastern states of the United States. The lingering question quickly became, "will the artic air hit the western U.S. too?"
Question answered
Friday, February 1 was the first day forecasters became confident in saying, "yes you're going to get cold too." It was also the first time this winter snow was in the forecast and meteorologist felt it was a strong possibility. The forecast was for a dusting to 2" Sunday, February 3 into Monday, February 4. Lucky for most residents, these estimates were a wee-bit off, but scattered locations accumulated 3"-4" within just a short few hours.
School districts decide to issue early school delays
The snow started falling throughout the day on Sunday, but didn't start sticking until the early evening hours and quickly accumulated. The South Bend School District was the first to issue a two hour school delay followed by both the Raymond and Willapa Valley School Districts. Each school kept to this and decided not to close, to much disarray of students hoping for a snow day. Unfortunately, most roads were still passable and a school closure simply wasn't warranted. Either way, students got a few extra hours to sleep in or, in most cases, a chance to play in the fresh snow.
What's next
Another polar vortex is expected to dip down from the arctic once again over the next week, but forecasting models and meteorologist believe it won't be as extreme as the last one. Portions of Montana and North Dakota are already feeling the effects with temperatures in the low 10's to high 20's. This vortex is also expected to hit the western states a bit more directly too.
Snow returns to the forecast on Friday, February 8 and through the weekend. It's still too early to tell how the whole thing will play out so citizens are encouraged to monitor forecast for changes. But temperatures are expected to remain in the mid 30's to upper 40's for the next few weeks with overnight lows often dipping down into the 20's. For the past two years, snow has hit the area as late as April and may follow a similar track this year.