Coltin Mothershead prepares to land after taking air off a ramp Monday afternoon at the Riverside Park skate park in Centralia.
Austin Hamilton prepares to land on his skateboard after taking air off a ramp Monday afternoon at the Riverside Park skate park in Centralia.
While record high temperatures were set in numerous parts of Western Washington on Monday, the mercury came up just a bit short of history in the Twin Cities.
On Monday, meteorologist Johnny Berg from the National Weather Service in Seattle told The Chronicle that it was unlikely that Centralia and Chehalis would see a new record-high temperature set. A few hours later, he was proven correct.
“In Centralia (the high) is 75 degrees set in 1934,” noted Berg around lunchtime. “If I was a betting man I’d be folding right now.”
Berg’s premonition rang true a few hours later when the thermometer topped out at 73 degrees around 3:35 p.m.
He noted that the record high temperature for the Twin Cities on March 12 dates back all the way to 1893, while many cities only began keeping daily logs in the 1940s.
“Some of these sites that are getting these high temperatures are also getting some easterly winds,” explained Berg.
While the Twin Cities came up just short of a record-setting mark on the heat index, Olympia was able to reach a new record when the temperature hit 70 degrees just before 4 p.m.. Previously, the high temperature for the state capitol on March 12 was 67 degrees set in 1994.
While the sun was on full display for most of Monday, by the time dusk rolled around a new front could be made out on the horizon. Berg said that those clouds represented a change of scenery that’s likely to stick around at least until the weekend.
“These clouds coming in right now, that’s just kind of the scouts coming in ahead of the main group,” said Berg. “They’re kind of a head of a system that’s coming in from offshore.”
Berg noted that a shift to a northerly wind helped to push the cooler clouds into our area, and he speculated that they would begin dumping rain across area drainages sometime around sunrise on Tuesday, with up to a quarter of an inch of accumulation expected. Berg added that the rain showers are likely to last through the rest of the work week.
“I don’t see any mention of any sun, but I do see mostly cloudy with the chance of rain showers from Tuesday through Sunday, but I wouldn't rule out maybe a few sun breaks,” said Berg.
