October continues to chug along at a good pace. It sure seems like we went from very pleasant late-summer weather to autumn overnight, doesn’t it? Quite an abrupt change for sure. But I think most everyone is ready for the fall season.
And keeping with that fashion, we have more storms heading our way. Nothing on the massive destruction scale, just some typical early-fall weather systems. Much of the energy will stay to our north, but plenty of clouds — and rain or showers — are in the forecast most of the week.
Earlier, I was thinking Monday’s weather system would bring lots of wind and rain, especially along the coast, but now it appears it will be much weaker and more a squeaker than a soaker.
I was disappointed in the forecast results for last Thursday and Friday. I thought we would see much more clearing and sunshine than we experienced. The clouds, drizzle and showers hung in there. Oh, well, that’s the joys of weather forecasting in the great Northwest.
The first week of October was fairly average in Vancouver, at least on the thermometer.
We had cooler highs than normal, but warmer lows, due to the impressive cloud cover. And despite the drizzle and light rain we got, the city is officially running about a quarter-inch below average for the first seven days of the month. I would expect we will catch up on that before the month’s end.
September rainfall reports from your friends and neighbors are sitting in my inbox and I will share these with you in Tuesday’s column. Not a whole lot to talk about, but the amounts really varied around the area. I will say I saw reports ranging from a quarter-inch to over four inches of rain.
Reports of woolly bear sightings are coming in every day and most caterpillars observed so far have had four or five orange segments. This isn’t looking good if you like a cold winter. Things are leaning on a more seasonal to maybe slightly warmer than average. But there’s still a ways to go and I will report by the end of the month. Thanks everyone for your reports, and keep them coming!
I will chat with you on Tuesday. Take good care!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.
