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Clark County stuck in the 80s – degrees, that is

Forecast calls for no days in the 90s this July, a rare occurrence

By Dave Kern
Published: July 25, 2011, 12:00am
3 Photos
Russ Terekhov, center left, 22, looks along the beach from the stern of his ski boat while he and his friend Rod Nekrasov, 21, wait for more friends before going wakeboarding Sunday at Wintler Park.
Russ Terekhov, center left, 22, looks along the beach from the stern of his ski boat while he and his friend Rod Nekrasov, 21, wait for more friends before going wakeboarding Sunday at Wintler Park. Photo Gallery

It’s an open question whether the heat of summer has hit Clark County, but bathers at Wintler Park on the Columbia River weren’t complaining Sunday.

“It is hot intermittently,” said Dianna Bleasdell, 51, of Camas. “It’s heavenly. … We live for days like this.”

She was at the beach with husband, Brian Bleasdell, 49. They were married in Jamaica in February.

“She drags me down here every year,” Brian said. “We’re kinda sun worshippers ourselves.”

Asked how many swimsuits she bought for the summer, -Dianna answered four. And how many she has been able to wear in Clark County: “One,” she replied.

Nearby on the busy beach, at 3 p.m., Frank Gianninoto, 59, of Hazel Dell announced, “Not as hot as yesterday.” He was perched in a lawn chair on a New York Giants towel and noted he’s a New York City native. It was 81 at that hour and increased to 88 at 5:21 p.m., making it the hottest day in Vancouver this year.

“I come out as soon as the sun comes,” he said. “It’s been kind of a dismal summer, but it (the heat) is going to come.”

Perhaps not in July, though. The forecast has nary a day predicted to hit 90 degrees for the next week.

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“No, I do not see a 90 in the forecast for July. Not even close,” said Daniel Metcalf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland.

“Pushing Aug. 1 and not seeing 90 is uncommon,” said Vancouver’s Steve Pierce, who writes a weather blog for The Columbian and is president of the Oregon chapter of the American Meteorological Society.

By contrast, Pierce said there were five days in July last year in which the Vancouver temperature was at or above 90.

In 2009, Vancouver recorded its hottest day in history with a 108 on July 29.

Pierce checked records and said the last time July failed to register a high temperature of 90 or higher at Portland International Airport was in 1993. That year, the highest was 85 on July 31.

‘Not hot enough’

Cory Henning, 22, of Washougal on his Wintler beach towel, said simply, “Not hot enough.”

Next to him, Jordan Grandy, 22, of Hockinson was showing off a nice tan. How did she get it this cool summer? “It was the tanning oil yesterday,” she said. Not a tanning salon? “A little bit,” she confided.

“This isn’t summer yet,” Grandy, a Clark College student, added.

“It needs to be about 20 more degrees,” said Amela Haurdic, 18, a recent Fort Vancouver High School grad, watching the active river scene.

“For me, it’s perfect,” said her friend, Love Puzhlyakova, 17, who will be a senior at Skyview High School this fall. “You can get on the boat. Guys invite you,” she added.

Yes, there were a couple of speedboats and at least three personal watercraft on the beach. And activities included beach volleyball and other games.

Artem Bondar, 19, of Washington, D.C., is in Vancouver with his brother, Andrey, 22, visiting their dad, Paul Bondar, for the summer.

Coming from the East Coast, Artem described our weather as, “Chilly, but we got used to it.”

So, what will this week be like?

Look for cooler weather, cloudy with highs in the low-70s through Wednesday, Metcalf said. And it doesn’t look like we’ll hit 80 the rest of the month, he added.

For the record, our hottest 2011 day until Sunday was July 6, when the mercury hit 87. In 1954, Pierce noted, the temperature never got above 86 for the entire year at Portland International Airport.

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