Christmas Will Be Frosty, But It Won’t Get Whiter Forecasts Call For Dry Weather Until Friday

This week’s cold snap will continue through Christmas, virtually guaranteeing a frosty scene for the holiday, according to weather forecasters.

What’s on the ground now should be the extent of any white Christmas. Aside from a few possible flurries today, forecasts are calling for dry weather until Friday evening.

That’s good news for motorists negotiating the region’s highways and mountain passes.

Fog could form over the area late at night and in the morning hours. That could make travel a little dicey at times, especially for people flying out of Spokane International Airport.

But a new fog landing system commissioned in November has reduced the number of fog delays and cancellations, said Dennis Locke, operations manager at the airport.

“I know we’ll do a lot better this year than in past years,” he said.

Before the new system was installed, pilots couldn’t land when visibility fell below 1,600 feet, or about a quarter-mile.

The new instruments drop the minimums to 700 feet if the aircraft and crew have the equipment and training to make an advanced instrument landing.

On the average, there are 49 days a year when fog reduces visibility to a quarter-mile or less at the airport.

“Very seldom does it go below 1,000 feet,” Locke said, so even with fog, there’s a good chance a lot of planes will continue to fly.

Heavy fog dropped visibility to 700 feet on Dec. 12.

That episode did not stop Alaska and Southwest airlines flights, which were prepared with the new system, Locke said.

He said more airlines and flights will be ready to use the new system if it’s needed this week. Horizon Airlines has advanced avionic equipment on many of its aircraft, he said.

According to the forecast, the risk of fog starts tonight and continues through Christmas morning, but Christmas Day could be partly sunny. “It doesn’t look like much exciting weather,” said Paul Frisbie of the National Weather Service in Spokane.

Any snow that may have fallen overnight should end today. Forecasters had predicted about an inch of new snow by this morning.

This year’s snow cover is wimpy compared with 1996, when a strong storm struck on Christmas Eve and boosted the city’s snowpack to 19 inches by Christmas morning.

But heavy snow has been the exception on Christmas.

Over the past decade, Spokane frequently saw little or no snow on Christmas morning, and only once did measurable snow fall on Christmas Day. That was last year, when less than an inch fell after midnight.

In 1990, 1991 and 1993, the snow cover was an inch or less, not enough for good sledding. In 1989 and 1995, there was no snow. In 1994, there was no measurable snow on the ground, but a trace fell on Christmas Day.

Along with 1996, other white Christmases were 1992, with 10 inches, and 1988 with 5 inches on the ground.

, DataTimes