Weather Eye: Sunshine expected to brighten the official first day of summer

It was nice to see a return of the sunshine Wednesday after five days of clouds, thunderstorms, rain, hail and drizzle. We had just about everything, didn’t we? Summer officially begins Saturday and we will greet the day with sunshine.

If you like seasonal weather we’ve got it. After an increase in clouds tonight and Friday and only a slight chance of light showers we go to typical June weather. What is that? Morning clouds, afternoon sunshine and highs in the 70s.

Next week looks pleasant although we switch from a north-northwest flow to a southwest flow and along with that higher humidity and a risk of thunderstorms should any migrate up from California.

Despite the heavy downpours a few days ago, the official rain tally for Vancouver keeps us running behind the seasonal average by four-tenths of an inch. The average mean temperature for the first time in months is running behind the seasonal average, as well, by over one degree.

What was in my column 10 years ago today? “It will most likely remain hot for the next few days with highs in the 80s and close to 90. Outside of a chance of measurable rainfall from thunderstorms, it looks dry for the next 10 days or so. There was a report of a small tornado Friday at 4:45 p.m. near the YMCA in Sherwood, southwest of Portland. As it touched down briefly it damaged seven trees. Lots of lightning hit Clark County around the same time but only a trace of rain fell in Vancouver at Pearson. And guess what? Yes, our monthly rainfall is below average once again.”