Welcome to the new month of October and all its colorful glory as our local countryside becomes ablaze with the annual array of red, orange and yellows scattered among the native evergreen trees. Don’t you love October? Those hazy sunny days with mild temperatures and of course those cool crisp nights.
Speaking of cool nights, early Monday morning was the first frost of the season with several observers reporting lows of 30-32 degrees in the Yacolt area. Even downtown Vancouver dipped to 41 degrees, which was the official low for Vancouver. Most all the urban areas were in the 30s. It was Vancouver’s lowest temperature since May 20, when it was also 41 degrees. The most recent coldest low temperature was earlier on May 8 with 38 degrees. I guess we can now say there was frost on some pumpkins around the county.
We must also mention that October also brings the beginning of the autumn rains. Vancouver usually receives about 3.5 inches of rain in October with last year receiving an inch less than average. So, what does this month look like? I reported earlier we are the cusp of the area noted by government officials to have above-average rainfall and barely in the equal chances area. What does all that mean? Simply put, forecasters don’t really know, most likely an average month rain-wise.
However, looking ahead to the next week or 10 days, I don’t see any rain of significance falling. The jet stream remains strong through southern Canada. That’s close enough to pay close attention and keep the weather eye peeled for any dips in the jet stream like we have seen in mid- to late summer.
