One year ago I opened this column with these words, “The last holiday of summer certainly wasn’t a sunny hot weekend but all in all not too bad. Looking back over the past ten years, the chances of rain are about 50 percent. It has rained five out of ten years. Although as of late afternoon on Labor Day, it has been dry but pesky clouds kept the temperatures in the 60s. The only rain we had this three-day weekend was on Saturday with officially 0.01 of an inch recorded in Vancouver.”
Quite a contrast this year as hot and dry weather rode the three-day weekend. While last year we had clouds keeping the Labor Day weekend in the 60s, Monday we had thick smoke keeping the afternoon temperatures in the low 90s. It would have been 100 or so without the thick smoke.
It has been 90 or better each day in September. The coastal beaches were on the hot side Monday in the low 90s. At 1 p.m., it was just 81 degrees in Vancouver and 91 degrees in Long Beach. I enjoyed the pleasant coastal weather over the holiday; as I waded in the ocean water, it was 90 degrees at water’s edge. The 58-degree water sure felt good!
We stay hot today in the 90s with thick smoke. The winds should be light from the east which may increase the smoke. I had a few reports of ash falling in eastern regions of Clark County Monday. Then a big change on Wednesday.
