This week’s wet weather won’t change the fact that December has been unseasonably dry for the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Unless we get a huge storm, December 2011 will be one of the driest on record,” said Jay Neher, a National Weather Service meteorologist stationed in Seattle.
A month of mostly clear, dry weather delighted area residents with relatively warm temperatures and dry days but delayed the beginning of downhill skiing on Hurricane Ridge and has kept the Olympic Mountain snowpack below normal.
The dry month was the result of a big ridge of high pressure parked off the coast, like an invisible mountain range, diverting storms elsewhere, Neher said.
That ridge has broken down and the storm track is back, bringing the usual rain pattern to the Peninsula, he said.
The series of storms that began to arrive Saturday heralded a major change in weather patterns.
“January will be closer to normal,” Neher said.
Long-range forecasts indicate the next two months may even be wetter than normal, he said.
At lower elevations, there has been a noted lack of December rain.
Brinnon was the driest city on the Peninsula, measuring only 0.01 inches of rain, compared with a normal amount of 8.65 inches for December.
Chimacum and Port Townsend each recorded 0.3 inches of rain.
Chimacum usually receives 4.24 inches of rain for the month, while Port Townsend gets 2.55 inches of rain.
Port Angeles and Sequim each had 0.44 inches of rain, well short of the usual 4.25 and 2.71 inches for December.
Rainfall since Saturday has been widespread but light.
By Thursday afternoon, Port Angeles received an additional 0.51 inches, while Quilcene got 1.51 inches.
Forks, which averages 104.5 inches of rain each year, had recorded only 1.54 inches of rain in December by Saturday, well below the month’s low record of 3.63 inches and far below the average December rainfall of 18.9 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s been quite pleasant, actually,” said Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon.
There hasn’t been a lot of discussion of the dry spell in town, Monohon said.
“People have been counting their blessings,” he said.
That changed Saturday, and by Wednesday afternoon, 5.18 additional inches of rain had fallen at Quillayute Airport, bringing the total up to 6.72 inches.
The late rainfall prevented a new record and pushed the annual rainfall to 105.71 — 5 inches more than the 101.64 inch average, with more days of rain forecasted before the end of the year.
However, Forks’ December recovery may be the exception, and other places on the Peninsula may still end up recording a record dry December, Neher said.
Before the storms began, on Dec. 24, Neah Bay measured 2.52 inches of rain in December, well short of its average rainfall of 16.47 inches for that month.
How much additional rain will fall before midnight Sunday is unknown, but a number of old records are likely to fall, Neher said.
Some cities don’t have official weather stations that can be monitored for daily totals.
Weather observers record daily rainfall totals for their home area, then turn their charts in to the National Weather Service to be entered in the record.
Official records will be determined once the month is over and complete December rain charts are collected, he said.
Overall, the snowpack in the Olympic Mountains — which supplies rivers during warmer months — is about 84 percent of normal, said Scott Pattee, Natural Resources Conservation Service water supply specialist.
“Early in the season, it’s not a big deal. There is a lot of season to go,” Pattee said.
Pattee is worried about an increased danger of avalanches caused by unseasonably high temperatures.
“Tuesday, there were several record highs at the SNOTEL [snow telemetry] sites,” he said.
Temperatures were even warmer Wednesday, he said.
When wetter weather finally returned this week, it fell as rain on the snow, Pattee said.
The wet, heavy snow that results from rain falling on snow encourages snow to let loose and slide, he said.
Mostly, the lack of snow is affecting people who enjoy snow sports.
“The conditions are not good,” he said.
Ski blog sites are populated by frustrated skiers and snowboarders who are asking when the snow will return, he said.
A wetter, colder late winter and spring are expected to cause snow levels to drop to very low elevations, Pattee said.
That is welcome news for Olympic National Park, said Janis Burger, interpretive ranger for Hurricane Ridge, where the dry December translated to disappointment for some.
There is enough snow for snowshoe guided walks and some cross-country skiing, Burger said, adding that some snowboarders have already been using the area, even with less-than-ideal conditions.
But the downhill skiing season has yet to begin.
Conditions are expected to change very quickly.
The “bunny hill” rope has been installed and is ready, but there isn’t enough snow on the slope, Burger said.
“The lift will open later in the season,” she said.
Craig Hofer, manager of the Hurricane Ridge ski area, has said 3 more feet of snow is needed to open the ski lift.
It’s fairly common for the Hurricane Ridge ski area to open late, Burger said.
The snow depth at Hurricane Ridge stood at 41 inches Thursday, and up to 5 inches of additional snow is forecast to fall by Saturday.
Burger said the location where the snow is measured is away from the ski areas, which are windswept and have considerably less snow than the area where snow is measured.
For now, the lack of snow is affecting local businesses, including All Points Charters & Tours, which provides twice-daily van service from downtown Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge.
“I’ve only been up three times this year,” said Willie Nelson, owner and operator of the tour service.
Nelson said his business has suffered as fewer people are interested in visiting a snowless snowplay area, and the road has been clear, so those who do make the trip simply drive themselves.
All that began to change over the weekend as wet winter weather finally moved into the region.
“Six inches of snow fell last night, and another 6 inches are expected tonight,” Nelson said Tuesday.
With the return of falling snow, Nelson already had reservations for today and Saturday, he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
