By K.C. Mehaffey

World staff writer

WENATCHEE — The new year will start with the coldest overnight temperature of this young winter, followed by prolonged dreariness. Wenatchee temperatures are expected to drop to 11 degrees tonight, and colder in outlying areas.

Unless North Central Washington residents drive up into the mountains or out to the Waterville Plateau, you’re likely to be stuck in heavy, overcast weather for the next week.

“We’re stuck in a pattern that’s not going to change very much,” said Greg Koch, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Spokane.

He said the jet stream that kept the weather pattern moving through December has split southward, and the high pressure system now over the region could produce a long period of low clouds, particularly in the valleys and along rivers.

Adding to the clouds, this will likely be the coldest week of the winter so far.

“That’s not saying a whole lot,” Koch pointed out, given that So far through Dec. 30, temperatures at Pangborn Memorial Airport in East Wenatchee were 4.5 degrees above average for December.

After a severe drop tonight, low daily temperatures in the Wenatchee Valley are forecast in the low 20s to high teens the rest of the week. In outlying areas — such as Winthrop, where some clearing could occur — the thermometer will drop to the low teens early this week and are currently forecast at 7 degrees on Wednesday night, when the clouds may lift in that area. The mercury dropped to 6 degrees there on Sunday morning, and close to zero degrees this morning, partly due to clearer skies.

On the bright side, Koch said, the extended period of fog and cold weather could produce some dramatic hoarfrost — the beautiful crystalized ice that forms on branches, fences and anything else that sits outside in an undisturbed area for the extended foggy, cold weather.

Stagnant weather may also result in the potential for burn bans, Koch added. “These prolonged periods of dry weather without much wind can sometimes raise our air stagnation, and pollution buildup, especially in the narrow valleys,” he said. The Weather Service will be coordinating with the state Department of Ecology to determine if any bans are needed throughout the week, he said.

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com