Dear Tom,
Last July, my husband and I moved from the Chicago suburbs to southwest Washington. This winter has been unbelievably beautiful and sunny. The locals say it’s highly unusual and we’ll pay for it this summer. How so?
Dorene Perkins, Centralia, Wash.
Dear Dorene,
Centralia lies in a flat valley between the coastal range and the Cascades, about 30 miles south of Olympia and the Puget Sound. Normally, the winter there is very wet and dreary with little sunshine, while summers are pleasant with low humidity and almost no rainfall.
So far this winter, rainfall has been about 50 percent of normal, and snow pack in the Cascades is near a record low. With below-normal rainfall expected to continue right on through spring, this summer may be especially dry, with low stream flows, little soil moisture and an expanding drought.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
