Weather Eye: Rain, rain won’t go away for some time, forecasts say

Well, we got rid of the excessive humidity but not the rain. Several hours of steady rain fell early Monday with amounts generally between a tenth and a quarter-inch. Higher amounts were noted in the foothills and Cascades.

Late Monday afternoon a line of showers and thunderstorms moved down the Willamette Valley towards Portland but mostly headed east before reaching the Columbia. More showers are on tap today with a break Wednesday and then rain Thursday and showers Friday and Saturday.

When will it top 70 degrees again? Looking at forecast models, it may be a while — perhaps next Sunday or Monday. Yep it is June all right, doesn’t surprise me a bit. In fact snow was forecast today down to the 3,500-4,000-foot level.

Rainfall amounts are still coming in from around the region for May and as I expected they vary widely. Weather observer Ellen Smart of Ridgefield reported that she didn’t get any of those heavy downpours two weeks ago that most of the county did. Stay tuned for this report in a future column very soon.

Vancouver’s official rainfall for May was 3.15 inches, .68 of an inch above average. I had 5 inches of rain with most occurring with those two large rounds of thunderstorms. So it was a hit and miss for many. Still, a good dose of rain for the month of May and that observation is more typical of maybe October or November.

The average mean temperature was 57.9 degrees, .02 degrees below normal. The temperature extremes for May varied from a high of 89 degrees on May 14 to a chilling 36 degrees on May 10.

There is lots of water running in the major rivers, such as the Columbia and Willamette, as is typical for June. High, murky and very cold so be aware when on or near the riverbanks.

Enjoy your week!

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.