Weather Eye: Shine on, harvest moon, and lead us into official start of autumn

Ah, late summer/early fall in the great Northwest. Was Monday picture perfect? I think so. Nary a cloud in the sky, gentle breezes. Wow!

Monday started on the crisp side of things with lows in many parts of Clark County in the mid-40s. Battle Ground had 41 degrees; a report near Moulton Falls had 37 degrees. The nice thing about warm weather in autumn: Nights are longer, and it cools off quickly.

We will see this fair-weather pattern all week. The weekend is a puzzle. Of two trusted models, one indicates cooler and maybe showers by Sunday into early next week. The other keeps us sunny and warm.

It seems like fall and spring are the toughest seasons to predict because they are, well, unpredictable at times. Meanwhile, we will enjoy late summer weather. The official start of autumn begins next week, and Friday we have the full harvest moon. So shine on, shine on, harvest moon.

I observed my first woolly bear caterpillar Sunday, and it had a wide orange band. This would indicate a mild winter. Of course this is just one of many more to make the official woolly bear winter forecast.

We have chatted about ‘the Blob” off our coastal waters keeping a mild winter over us. Earlier, it had mostly dissipated, but now according to UW professor Cliff Mass, “The Son of the Blob” is developing.

Our normal high temperature for the next few days is 77 degrees. On Monday, we reached 78 degrees. The average low is 53 degrees; Monday, it was 46 degrees. So, cooler than normal with the lows and warmer than normal highs. Sounds great, we will take it.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://patricktimm.com

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