That was quite a rapidly moving cold front that swung through the county Saturday morning with a brief shot of cold rain. How cold? How about 45 degrees? Yes, this is April, not February. Snow was falling down to 2,500 feet in the Washington and northern Oregon Cascades. A bit of winter.
Many have asked me why the rainfall amount for Vancouver is either missing or incorrect for the month on the weather page and other locations. The weather station broke down at Pearson Field, so data were missing or incomplete from April 5 to 11. That is where the official data come from for Vancouver.
Tyree Wilde, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Forecast office in Portland, said the automated surface observing station at Vancouver is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration and does not have the same rain sensor as the National Weather Service ASOS in Portland. The instruments in Portland save the data when there is a malfunction, and no records are lost. We were rainless for a few days when it was actually raining. All is well now, but at month’s end I will try to get the best representation of April’s rainfall.
More rain and showers on tap through midweek, then maybe some dryness Thursday through Saturday. Some weather charts say highs of 60-70 degrees. Others bring more showers. Easter Sunday is a toss-up at this point.
