A look into the rain bucket for Vancouver so far this month on Saturday afternoon revealed that we are still a bit below average for the month. However, we will have some good rains today, and I’m quite sure we will rise above average by Monday.
It will also be breezy today, with easterly winds especially east of Interstate 205 and then switching to southerly this evening, with possible gusts of 30 to 35 mph.
The big change this week will see our highs drop from the 50s into the 40s as we receive more airflow from the cool Gulf of Alaska. Rain will fall off and on through Thursday, and we may have a dry Friday and Saturday. If so, overnight lows will drop into the low 30s. A warm coat versus the rain jacket may be in store this week.
California will still receive storminess and more rain this week, but not as severely as last week. Snow will return to our Cascade mountains, with snow down to pass levels and below. Some snow may fall in our higher foothills later in the week.
Be prepared if traveling over the mountains this week. The wet and bare roadways will be icy and snowy at times.
About this time in 2017, we had 8 to 15 inches of snow over much of Clark County. A storm system from the west became tangled with cold east winds from the Gorge, and, well, the rest was history. And a sight that opened eyes were chunks of ice floating down the Columbia from the ice-encrusted Columbia River Gorge.
Finally, let’s catch up on the local rainfall for December: Bob Starr, Cougar, 20.54 inches; Jim Knoll, Five Corners, 9.75 inches; Robin Ruzek, Lakeshore, 7.43 inches; Chuck Houghten, Hockinson Heights, 10.32 inches; Tyler Mode, Battle Ground, 9.44 inches; Bob Mode, Minnehaha, 6.90 inches; Irv St. Germain, Prune Hill, 8.57 inches; Ellen Smart, Ridgefield, 9.30 inches; and Dave Campbell, 1 mile west of Heisson, 11.13 inches. Our friend Roland Derksen in Vancouver, B.C., reported 10.11 inches. The official rainfall for our Vancouver was 6.88 inches, .81 of an inch above the normal average of 6.07 inches.
