I realize this sounds like a never-ending storyline, but the summer-like weather continues to roll on and on.
Yes, we got a much-needed shot of rain Wednesday night and Thursday, with Vancouver officially measuring .33 of an inch on Wednesday and .13 of an inch on Thursday. Friday, of course, was dry and mild after the morning low clouds and fog.
I heard from several of you with heavier rainfall amounts, generally two-thirds of an inch to about 1 inch. The heaviest amounts were in the foothills, where Phil Delany of Battle Ground measured just shy of 1 inch at his rain gauge above Dole Valley.
The recent short-lived rains were not enough to catch us up to normal for September. The month ended at .53 of an inch, compared to an average of 1.43 inches.
Our average temperature was 4 degrees above normal, which is a considerable amount in climate records. We had a high of 92 degrees on Sept. 6 and a low of 46 degrees on Sept. 23. It was another warm and dry month, following July and August.
Today, the easterly winds will continue, although they will ease off by sunset. They were gusting to 30 mph Saturday in Vancouver and pushed our afternoon temperatures well into the 80s.
Today, we’ll hit about 85 degrees. This week will see fair skies and warmth through Friday, with highs between 80 and 85 degrees, depending on the breezes.
Next weekend appears dry at this point, if you didn’t make it out to the pumpkin fields yet. (I have a nice round one on my back deck, basking in the sunshine. It remains to be seen if I’ll carve it.)
The reports of the woolly bears are arriving in my inbox, and from only a small sampling, it could be a chilly winter. We’ll keep counting. Drop me a picture and location, and we will widen the research.
Faith Aloha sent me a beautiful picture of a woolly bear she observed near Fishers Creek. If hers were the chief forecaster, we would have an extended mild fall season, with an abrupt cold snap and snow by New Year’s, but the winter weather would yield to an early spring.
