“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”
–Patrick Young
The Thanksgiving week forecast was somewhat of a bust. Saturday morning, it was a balmy 39 degrees at Government Camp, Ore., no snow on the passes to speak of. What was to be hazardous travel over the passes at the beginning of the holiday failed to materialize. I traveled over U.S. Highway 26 at Government Camp on Wednesday morning, and although there was a dusting of snow on the unpaved surfaces, travel was a breeze. The mountain forecast predicted maybe a couple of feet for Government Camp by Friday. Nada, none.
I spent the holiday in Sunriver, Ore., where it was expected to snow — nope, none here either, despite watches, advisories and warnings galore. The high wind warnings said up to 60 mph — never developed. Temperatures remained above freezing.
Then the rain. Torrents were expected along the coast, not as much between the Cascades and the Coast Range. As you know, it rained hard all Thanksgiving Day in Clark County. A record of 2.05 inches of rain was set in Vancouver, breaking the 1960 record of 2.00 inches. The rain continued for hours on end, causing widespread street flooding and streams and rivers rising to minor flood stage.
