Spring arrived in good fashion with picture-perfect weather conditions. Afternoon temperatures Wednesday were in the low 70s around the county. Vancouver tried for a few days to crack the 70-degree mark, and with less east winds each day we did it Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday — each at 71 degrees. This will be the last hurrah of the brief summer preview that we enjoyed this week.
More remarkable were the highs in some locations in Western Washington. Seattle reached 79 degrees Tuesday, a daily record and the warmest ever for the month of March. They liked it so much they recorded 79 degrees as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, another daily record. The Washington Coast was in the 75- to 80-degree range. Cooler onshore winds were moving up the coast late Wednesday getting things back to normal there.
Speaking of normal, today we should see more clouds and highs down toward 60 degrees, a shot of rain Friday and post-frontal showers Saturday. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t see any heavy rain heading our way. Sunday looks dry, and then next week will behave like March with a chance of showers and highs close to normal in the 58- to 62-degree range, with Monday the coolest. A large trough of low pressure will set up shop off the coast and spin showers around at any time. But also, sunbreaks and dry times, too.
One remarkable item of interest this week thanks to the dry weather is the number of wildfires being reported already. This is March, for goodness’ sake! A couple of fires occurred in Cowlitz County and a couple in Wahkiakum County. Also in Oregon, causing local fire districts to ban outside burning. With humidity in the 20-percent range and strong gusty east winds, any outside fires should be eliminated. Wait for wetter, calmer weather.
