Monday night’s storm turned out to be a fast mover, and most of the heavy rain was over by morning rush hour. Winds were in the 30-40 mph range, but reports from a few areas of higher elevation were at 50 mph. Seems the worst of the storm was to our north and south.
It was really a beast of a storm that spawned a short-lived tornado in the Port Orchard area in Kitsap County. National Weather Service investigators were out Wednesday surveying the destruction and determining the strength of the tornado. They reported that it was an EF2 tornado with winds of 120-130 mph ripping rooftops completely off in its 1.4-mile path.
Locally, rainfall amounts were well over 2 inches in our outlying areas and foothills. Vancouver tallied about an inch and a half, which brought our monthly total to just under 3 inches — still an inch below average. More rain is on tap today, and showers through Christmas, but nothing heavy.
Our temperatures have been running way above average in the 55- to 60-degree range at some weather stations here in Clark County. Remember, our normal high is around 44 degrees. The good news is beginning Friday we drop back into the 40s, with lows in the 30s. This also means snow levels will be way down below the passes most of the time. I expect some snow to fall as low as our higher foothills at times. This would include the coast range too, but here in the city no snow. This is based on getting more of a northerly flow of air to cool things down.
