It’s been a record-breaking month of precipitation in Vancouver, and the surrounding mountains aren’t looking bad either.
Even with a couple of more days left in the month, this December is now the wettest in the city’s history. Gerry Macke, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Portland, said that as of midnight Monday, Vancouver had seen 15.77 inches of rainfall this December, significantly more than the previous record of 15.04 inches set in December of 1933.
In a typical December, the city averages 6.77 inches.
“It is the wettest December ever,” Macke said. “Even 10 inches in a month is really something.”
All that rain might put a damper on life in town, but it’s been a boon for winter recreation.
Scott Pattee, a water supply specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, said that year-to-date snowpack levels in the Lower Columbia Basin are 132 percent of the average for this time of year, and area precipitation is up to 145 percent of normal.
“That’s pretty good,” he said.
This winter comes in stark contrast to the previous one, when the Lower Columbia had one of the lowest regional snowpack levels in the state.
“This time last year in the Lower Columbia, we were sitting at 41 percent of normal,” Pattee said.
To illustrate his point, Pattee pointed to June Lake, one of the measuring sites used by the conservation service. In a normal season, there would be about 15 inches of water content sitting up there in the form of snow. Last year, there was only 3.4 inches, but this year there is 19.7 inches of water content on site.
Washington overall has 140 percent of typical snowpack. As an added benefit, the areas that were hit hardest by the recent storms were the ones that had the lowest snow levels last year, Pattee said.
Julie Koeberle of the conservation service said Mt. Hood has 90 percent of its normal snowpack, but the surrounding basin has 124 percent of what’s normal.
Pattee predicts that El Ni?o is slowing down and January’s snowfall won’t be as good as December’s.
“If you’re a snowboarder, right now get your turns in while you can, as far as the quality of snow is concerned,” he said. “We’ll get some cold snaps, but overall, the next three months are all going to have above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation — with an emphasis on the warmer temperatures.”
Still, he said, water conservation officials are hoping this winter’s big start will stay in place long enough for the state to have a normal runoff season.
Dameon Pesanti: 360-735-4541; dameon.pesanti@columbian.com; twitter.com/dameonoemad
