Ready for another cold, wet month? That’s the Tri-City March outlook

Tri-City residents can expect another month that’s colder and wetter than usual, according to the National Weather Service.

February was not only colder than usual, but it also had so much rain and snow that it came close to being a precipitation record setter for the Tri-Cities.

The weather service reported that Richland had 1.82 inches of precipitation in February, which was 1.05 inches above normal. The precipitation included about 4 inches of snow.

It was the second wettest February on record, behind the 2.3 inches recorded in 1961 in Richland.

March also is off to a rainy start. A storm system moving down from Alaska is expected to bring a chance of rain tonight and Sunday, with more rain likely in the coming work week. Snow could fall at elevations as low as 1,500 to 2,000 feet in the Mid-Columbia.

The northern air will mean colder temperatures. Highs could be back down to the 40s Sunday and Monday, and the low Sunday could fall to below freezing, the weather service said.

Travelers should be prepared for snow over Snoqualmie Pass.

A winter storm warning was issued for the pass from Thursday afternoon through midnight today. Snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches is possible, with more snow likely through the weekend.

Tri-City high temperatures in March should average lower than the norm of about 52 degrees at the start of the month, increasing to about 63 at the end of the month. Lows are expected to average below normal, rising from 32 to about 40 at the end of the month.

Normal precipitation for the Tri-Cities in March is about 0.7 inch.

Temperatures in February in the Tri-Cities were well below normal, according to the weather service. They averaged 5.8 degrees below normal in Richland.

Temperatures at the Hanford Meteorology Station also were 5.8 degrees below normal, making it the ninth coldest February since daily temperatures began being recorded in 1945, according to the Hanford Meteorological Service.

There was only one day in the month with a temperature above normal. Despite the cold, no daily temperature records were set at the Hanford weather station.

It was the second-wettest February on record at the station and also the sixth-snowiest, with 9 inches of snow. Normal is 2.3 inches of snow.

December through February saw 29 inches of snow at the Hanford station, almost double the normal of 15.3 inches. The months also averaged 7.2 degrees colder than normal, making it the sixth-coldest winter on record.

Here’s more weather data released for the month just ended:

▪  Pasco had five days when the temperature did not warm up to freezing and on all but five days the low was below freezing.

▪  The rainiest day in February was Feb. 15, when 0.65 inch of precipitation was recorded in Richland.

▪  Precipitation for the water year, which starts in October, was 6.94 inches in Kennewick, which is 2.35 inches above normal.

▪  The peak wind speed in the Tri-Cities in February was 44 mph in Kennewick on Feb. 6. At the Hanford station it was 53 mph on Feb. 10.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Ready for another cold, wet month? That’s the Tri-City March outlook."