Hoping for a white Christmas? Here’s a Tri-Cities weather sneak peek

The Tri-Cities can expect more precipitation than usual in December, says the National Weather Service.

That might mean a snowy month ahead — or maybe just a rainy one.

The weather service also is predicting that temperatures will average above normal for the Tri-Cities for December, providing some relief from a November that was colder than usual and an October that was the coldest on record in Richland.

The warmer than usual temperatures also increase the chances that some precipitation could fall as rain rather than snow, although the Tri-Cities already woke up to snow-covered ground on the first day of the month.

Normal precipitation for December in the Tri-Cities is about 1.2 inches.

Normal highs for the month drop from about 43 degrees at the start of the month to 39 at the end of the month. Lows drop from about 30 to 27.

Temperatures are warming some this week, with highs forecast to be back in the low to mid 40s from Friday through Monday in the Tri-Cities, according to the weather service.

Patchy freezing fog will continue in the mornings through at least Friday.

November was notable for being dry.

The Hanford Meteorological Service, which keeps records back to the mid 1940s, reported the third driest November on record.

At its weather station just 0.09 inch of precipitation was recorded, compared to a normal of 0.85.

Pasco had more precipitation, but still had just 17 percent of normal.

November, with lows that dipped into the teens at the end of the month in much of the Tri-Cities, averaged about 3 degrees below normal, according to the weather service.

No daily temperature records were set at the Hanford Meteorological Station.

The peak wind gust for the month in the Tri-Cities was 36 mph on Nov. 24. At Hanford it was 45 mph on Nov. 27.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 10:35 AM.