Vancouver’s 96-year-old record for rainfall in March appeared safe Saturday evening, although not by much, Columbian weather blogger Steve Pierce said.
As of noon Saturday, Vancouver was six-tenths of an inch shy of joining Portland and Spokane in setting new March rainfall records.
Vancouver had accumulated 7.72 inches of rain as of midday Saturday. The city’s all-time precipitation record for March is 8.38 inches in 1916.
The chances of Vancouver receiving six-tenths of an inch of rain during the final five hours of the month appeared remote, Pierce said around 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Portland International Airport had totaled 7.77 inches of rain at noon Saturday, besting its previous March record of 7.52 inches set in 1957. (PDX’s records don’t go back as far as Vancouver’s, because the airport wasn’t opened until 1940.)
Meanwhile, Spokane International Airport recorded 4.40 inches of rain through midday Saturday, topping its previous high from 1995 (3.81) by more than half an inch.
April is predicted to start with as much as a quarter-inch of rain Sunday as showers continue in Vancouver. Monday looks to be drier, but the rainy pattern will persist throughout the week, according to the National Weather Service.
