Tri-Cities weather
May 4, 2023
Partly cloudy skies to start the day. These are mostly high clouds drifting north from thunderstorms in mountains to the south and east. Increasing clouds for the remainder of the day which will moderate highs compared to yesterday. Look for temperatures reaching the mid to upper 70s.
The Storm Prediction Center, a department of the National Weather Service, has a level 1/5 (marginal) risk of severe thunderstorms today – generally east of a line from Vantage to Sunnyside to Fossil to John Day, including the Tri-Cities. General thunderstorms are possible west of that line, including Yakima.
Models indicate that strong thunderstorms will move out of the mountains toward the Tri-Cities near and after sunset. Isolated instances of severe wind (58 mph+ wind gusts) and hail (1″+ diameter) are possible, especially with the initial storm events. It is worth noting that few people will experience severe conditions and not everyone will see rain, but these conditions are likely to be observed by some.
Thunderstorms lose their strength overnight but showers remain likely into the day Friday. Winds will ramp up during the morning as the upper level low near San Francisco begins its move to the Canadian Praries. Winds will be strongest along I-84, which is directly downwind of the Columbia Gorge – a major gap in the Cascades for air to move through. Gusts to 45 mph are possible in well exposed areas near Hermiston and Boardman. Gusts to 30 mph are possible elsewhere.
An active weather pattern is forecast for the weekend into next week for the Pacific Northwest with a parade of weak to moderate fronts moving through. Mountains and areas west of the Cascades look pretty wet. In the Columbia Basin, mostly cloudy skies will be common with temperatures a bit cooler than we have observed the last few days. Friday will likely struggle to get above 60 with temperatures trending toward 70 by Monday.
Of note, Wednesday was the first day of the year with a high of 90 in the Tri-Cities. This is earlier than the average date (May 19) but doesn’t beat the record earliest of April 20, set in 1934.
I would love to see your storm pictures! Feel free to send them to Tri-Cities Weather on Facebook or send me a message through this website’s Contact page (I’m not putting my email on here because I don’t want the spam bots to find it and blast me).
