Here’s your first forecast on the chances for a white Tri-Cities Christmas

Tri-Citians will likely have to drive to the mountains to get a white Christmas this year.

The National Weather Service is predicting a December that’s warmer than usual for the Mid-Columbia, making it more like we’ll get rain rather than snow.

But the month has started out colder than usual, with highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s.

The Tri-Cities also has been plagued with foggy weather — and freezing fog, some nights and mornings — so far this month, and the fog is expected to persist through Saturday.

Drivers should continue to be careful on their morning commutes.

Temperatures are expected to continue to drop with a high as cold as 31 on Friday in the Tri-Cities.

But a storm system could blow through early next week, bringing a chance of rain and some snow flakes Sunday night, according to the weather service.

Temperatures should warm some then, with the high possibly reaching 40 degrees on Tuesday in the Tri-Cities, according to the early forecast of the weather service.

Normal highs for the start of December in the Tri-Cities are about 43 degrees, dropping to about 39 at the end of the month. Normal lows drop from about 29 to 27 by the end of the month.

Precipitation should be about normal for December at just over an inch, according to the weather service.

November was a particularly foggy month in the Mid-Columbia.

The Hanford Meteorological Service reported that it was the second foggiest November on record since World War II at its Hanford Meteorology Station 25 miles northwest of Richland.

Temperatures were a little colder than usual, both in the Tri-Cities and at Hanford. At both the Hanford Met Station and the Pasco airport, temperatures averaged about 1 degree below normal for the month.

Three daily temperature records were set at Hanford, all for warmer than usual temperatures in the first week of the month:

▪ The low on Nov. 1 was the warmest on record at 55, beating the former record of 49 sent in 1987. In Richland that day the low was 56.

▪ The high on Nov. 2 at the Hanford Met Station was 71, beating the old record of 70 set in 1945. At the Pasco airport the high was 72 that day.

▪ The low on Nov. 2 at the Hanford Met Station was 55, beating the old record of 51 set in 1985. The low in Kennewick that day was 59.

The cold snap that followed the warm start to the month brought a high of just 32 on Nov. 11 at Hanford, tying the previous record cold high of 32 recorded at the site’s meteorological station. The high at the Pasco airport Nov. 11 was 33.

Precipitation for November was a little below normal in the Tri-Cities and at Hanford.

Hanford reported no snowfall, despite usually recording 2 inches of snow in November.

The peak wind gust in the Tri-Cities in November was 47 mph recorded on Nov. 2. At the Hanford station it was 47 on Nov. 1.

The autumn months of September, October and November, averaged almost a degree cooler than normal at Hanford and precipitation was just barely below normal.

This story was originally published December 4, 2018 at 5:42 PM.