Summer weather transitioned rather abruptly to autumn weather around the region last week, going from highs in the 90s down to the 50s and 60s. And with more clouds and moisture — even some showers on Thursday, ranging from not much at all to a tenth of an inch in Felida.
A weak warm front moved through Clark County on Saturday, bringing about a tenth of an inch of rain — plus or minus, depending on your location. Another, stronger weather system was forecast late Saturday and again Sunday, to bring upwards of a half-inch over the urban areas, and an inch or better in the Cascades and foothills.
Its ironic that the first good rains in at least two months come when the National Weather Service Doppler radar is down for maintenance and upgrades. Even the private radar that KGW has installed above Camas/Washougal was down for maintenance.
Of course all one had to do is look out the window to see that things were on the wet side. The rain didn’t get much farther south than Portland allowing great weather for a blowout at the Duck game in Eugene. Go, Ducks!
On Thursday while the Felida area was getting a brief soaking, officially Vancouver’s gauge at Pearson received only 0.03 of an inch of rain.
No complaints
I heard from many readers and Facebook friends about the moisture, and there were no complaints at all. Dennis Murphy near Clark County Rifles said Thursday’s moisture “was kind of like fizz from a soda out here.”
Linda Fraught said she was so excited to turn her wipers on and “Welcome fall!”
Robin McIlvain commented, “The fireplace is on … yes I am ready for fall!” My Facebook friend Skip Aoun who lives in southern California asked to please send some of our rain down his way. Many others were also elated with the fall-like weather and just stayed indoors, cozy and snuggled up to a good movie or book.
A respite from the on-again-off-again summer.
Don’t despair; we will have a some nice weather next week with highs back up to the 75-80 degree or so range before the next round of showers. Enjoy your Sunday, and I will see you on Tuesday!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.
