Winter's coming and so is a lunar eclipse

Meteorological winter starts in less than a month. Meteorologists say winter is the three-month block of December, January and February. Astronomical winter starts Dec. 22. Dependent on which “winter” you choose to start your winter, get ready, because it’s coming.

La Niña conditions are in place for this winter. Over at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) they explained what the nation in general might expect. “…La Niña winters tend to be drier and warmer across the southern third of the U.S., and cooler in the northern U.S. and Canada. The Pacific Northwest, the Tennessee/Ohio Valleys, and parts of the Midwest tend to see more rain and snow than average.”

More rain and snow will be a welcomed addition in our region. Snow has already fallen on Moses Mountain. First snowfall was the last day of October, with more new snow into early November. It’s been visible on clear days. Let’s not forget, drought is still a reality around our region. Sure, the temperatures have dropped, and we’ve had some rain too. As of Nov. 11, we are in D2 – Severe Drought. The area to our north is in D1 – Moderate Drought. Some improvement from a few months ago.

The earliest snowfall in the Coulee has occurred in the month of October, both in 1935 and 1971. Snowfall action really gets going in November, with January experiencing the highest mean of snowfall of any of the winter months. I’ve got my snow measuring tools ready.

Are you an avid reader and have an interest in the weather of the Pacific Northwest? If your answer is yes or just maybe, you may like this book. “Weather of the Pacific Northwest” – Second Edition, by Cliff Mass. Nearly 300 pages of information pertinent to Northwest weather. There’s a chapter titled, Weather Features of the Inland Pacific Northwest, which covers our region. The author, Dr. Mass, is a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. He has a podcast and a blog too. He primarily focuses his attention on the weather of western portion of the state — bummer. I would like to see his level of attention focused on the weather of Eastern Washington. This book would be a great addition to our public library — hint.

There will be a full moon on Nov. 19. The November full moon is called the Beaver Moon. Also, this full moon will go into a near full eclipse and we will have a full view of this event — if the sky is clear. To see this eclipse, set your alarm, the eclipse will occur at 1 a.m. on Nov. 19. The other option is hold a Lunar Eclipse party into the early morning hours! Enjoy.

Now for the weather data for the month of October. Remember, all weather data presented here is from my personal weather station. Let’s start with precipitation. I measured a total of 0.99 inches of rain during October. The all-time mean precipitation is 0.78 inches and the all-time maximum was 3.98 inches back in 2016. Our high temperature was 74˚F on Oct. 3, the all-time high was 90 in 1935. The month’s low was 29.4 on the 12th, and the all-time low was 10 in 1984. The mean temperature was 50.1, and the all-time mean is 50.9. As I mentioned above, we’ve had snow in October. Back in 1971, the last time snowfall happened in October, it was measured at 1.3 inches.