Weather Eye: Enjoy weather before fall rain takes over later in week

Will we see another 80-degree high this month? They have been few and far between for some years now with the last 80-degree high temperature in the month of October in 2015. We reached 80 degrees Friday, creating a new milestone so to speak. We were a little short Saturday at 78 degrees as of 5 p.m.

Looking ahead to this coming week, I don’t see 80 degrees on the horizon. Today will be cooler with those infamous “morning clouds” probably lasting past the noon hour. On Monday through Thursday, we will have highs in the 70s with variable clouds.

We shift gears once again with more clouds and rain reaching us by Friday. Forecast charts show periods of rain throughout next weekend and into the following week. No complaints because we have had a nice break in the fall rains.

In Vancouver, we had 1.29 inches of rain in September, about one quarter inch below average. In September 2012, we only measured 0.04 of an inch, the driest in 20 years, and the period of July through September 2012 was the driest on record. That’s amazing considering records go clear back to the 1800s.

No rain so far in October and we will make it until Thursday at least without any measurable rain. In that dry period of 2012, we didn’t have any rain in October through the tenth.

With a lack of rain this month we sure have an abundance of spiderwebs, they are everywhere you walk. And the spiders are huge. I contribute this to the dry and warm weather. And the squirrel that uses my back fence as a pathway is making me dizzy watching him as he scampers back and forth with a mouthful of goodies. Back and forth, back and forth, wish he could tell me a few things!

To sum things up, any outdoor chores or activities should be done early in the week. Maybe go out and grab a pumpkin? When it begins to rain this weekend, who knows when it will stop. We’ll chat on Tuesday.