I was reviewing the latest newsletter from our state climate office on Monday and thought I would share a few bits of information with you. We all know it was wet last year but statewide it was the fifth wettest year since 1895 and the wettest since the turn of the century. The wettest year on record was 1996, followed by 1896, 1950 and 1899.
January was much colder than average across the Evergreen State, averaging 2-8 degrees below average. Vancouver’s average mean temperature was only 36.6 degrees, 5 degrees below normal. Rainfall totaled 3.40 inches, 2.10 inches below average. I am still gathering local rainfall reports and will share those with you later this week.
The office says that despite the long warm and dry spell in mid-January in the mountains, the snowpack on Feb. 1 was above average in all areas except on the east slopes of the Cascades where it was slightly below average. Thank goodness for a few good snowstorms near the end of the month.
Okay so what’s on tap weather-wise for the short term? A couple rounds of rain before it dries out later in the week and likely stays that way through early next week. I am thinking February follows the trend of last month with rainfall below average.
