Thank goodness we had a little break in the weather action Wednesday or we all would be in deep water. The heavy back-to-back rains this week inundated many areas as rivers could not handle the excessive runoff.
The heaviest rainfall Tuesday was centered in north Clark County and Cowlitz County, where 4 to 5 inches of rain fell. Here, we are only a third of the way through the month and we have surpassed the average December monthly rainfall. The good news is it looks like it will be drying out a bit next week as the main jet stream sinks southward. Still, more storms were forecast for today, Friday and into the weekend. Freezing levels will be lower, so some good mountain snow is on the way.
The total rainfall in Vancouver so far this month as of 5 p.m. Wednesday was 8.42 inches, 6.81 inches above average. That is impressive and a real drought buster. Reservoirs in the mountains are rising rapidly, and at this rate, we will be back to normal and the long, hot drought will just be a memory. Now, if we can get several feet of snow in the mountains. We will work on that job over the next week or so.
We won’t see anymore 60-degree-plus temperatures for a while as we will be back closer to normal — so cool but not cold on the agenda. Some extended forecast models hint of low snow levels in about a week but that is a ways out. We’ll see how the pattern shapes up.
