The Columbian

Weather & Climate

This image taken from video provided by WJLA shows crews battling a fire at Camp Airy for Boys in Thurmont, Md., on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. The building was empty when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported, Frederick County Division of Fire & Rescue Services spokesperson Sarah Campbell said. Residents and campers were not in the area of the fire, she said.

Crews battle Maryland summer camp fire, no injuries reported

June 29, 2022, 12:30pm Nation & World

Crews battled a fire at an overnight summer camp in western Maryland on Wednesday morning, but no injuries were reported, officials said. Read story

One worker stands on a closed bridge as another on the flooded walkway below where a flood wall at left holds back the Skagit River from downtown Mount Vernon, Wash., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. An atmospheric river—a huge plume of moisture extending over the Pacific and into Washington and Oregon—caused heavy rainfall in recent days, bringing major flooding in the area.

Months after flooding, Skagit County awaiting FEMA funding for park repairs

June 29, 2022, 8:56am Latest News

Several Skagit County parks that suffered severe damage during November flooding have yet to be repaired as the county Parks and Recreation Department waits for federal funds. Read story

Tropical Storm Bonnie expected to form; forecasters watching two other systems

June 28, 2022, 8:22am Nation & World

Three storm systems are present in the Atlantic, one of which is likely to become a tropical storm as it moves toward the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea, forecasters said. Read story

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Weather Eye: Cooler weather moving in; will July 4 be boom or bust?

June 28, 2022, 6:04am Clark County News

I know there are plenty of you that like the hot weather, but I am hoping we enjoy a summer with seasonal high temperatures. That would be in the upper 70s to mid-80s. Three days in the 90s are more than enough for many of my readers. Read story

Vancouver kids Addy Bugge, 3, from left, joins Elizabeth White Eyes, 7, and Kai Sabanovic, 6, to beat the heat in the water feature at The Waterfront Vancouver on Monday afternoon. Forecasters predict cooler weather on the way.

Clark County heats up

June 27, 2022, 6:16pm Clark County News

After weeks of on-and-off rain, the Pacific Northwest finally has some heat. Read story

Smoke from Southern California wildfires drifts through the Los Angeles Basin in a view from the Griffith Observatory on Sept. 17, 2020, in Los Angeles.

Pollution from California’s 2020 wildfires likely offset decades of air quality gains

June 27, 2022, 6:00am Nation & World

It was a nightmare fire season that California won’t soon forget. Read story

Eduardo Armenta, with North East Trees, delivers trees to a resident along 113th Street in Watts in August 2021. Members of North East Trees help plant and maintain trees in the western part of Watts to eventually bring more shade for residents and to reduce heat in these neighborhoods.

L.A. needs 90,000 trees to battle extreme heat. Will residents step up to plant them?

June 26, 2022, 5:44pm Nation & World

In 2019, Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled an ambitious plan to plant 90,000 trees in Los Angeles by 2021 as part of L.A.’s Green New Deal. Read story

As Colorado River reservoirs drop, Western states urged to ‘act now’

June 26, 2022, 6:15am Nation & World

With the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs continuing to drop to new lows, the federal government has taken the unprecedented step of telling the seven Western states that rely on the river to find ways of drastically cutting the amount of water they take in the next two months. Read story

Weather Eye: Vancouver gets hot, but at least it’s not a record

June 26, 2022, 6:04am Clark County News

It was hot Saturday as we recorded our first 90-degree day, with a high as of 5 p.m. in Vancouver of 93 degrees. Today we’ll move upward to 100 degrees, or close to it. But we’ll set no records today; they were made last June in that dreadful heat wave… Read story

FILE - People fish near a hydroelectric power plant at Isola Serafini, on the Po river in San Nazzaro, Italy, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The drying up of the river is jeopardizing drinking water in Italy's densely populated and highly industrialized districts and threatening irrigation in the most intensively farmed part of the country. The mayor of Milan signed an ordinance Saturday, June 25, 2022, turning off public decorative fountains and limiting water sprinklers in Italy's business capital as northern Italy endures one of the worst droughts in decades.

Milan to turn off fountain spigots as drought bakes Italy

June 25, 2022, 9:14pm Nation & World

The mayor of Milan signed an ordinance Saturday turning off the spigots of public decorative fountains and the city's archbishop prayed for rain in a tour of churches as northern Italy endures one of its worst droughts in decades. Read story