Wednesday was a standout for me. Just before 6:30 a.m., I saw a brilliant rainbow to the west-southwest of Vancouver. It was probably near Sauvie Island, west of Portland. In the early afternoon, I witnessed a strike of cloud-to-ground lightning in the same area.
From rainbows to lightning in a matter of several hours, so it went that late spring day. In my mind, it is June, although May lingers on the calendar for another couple of days. It is like nature is holding on to the spring season, not wanting to relent to the realm of summer.
June 1 is the official beginning of the meteorological summer for us weather and climate folks, even though the calendar heralds its arrival on June 21st. The summer solstice occurs at 3:51 in the morning local time. You will go to bed in spring and wake up to summer all in one night!
There were numerous showers and thunderstorms scattered over the Pacific Northwest yesterday, with reports of heavy rain and hail. And, of course, lightning and thunder. Between 2 and 3 pm, downtown Vancouver picked up two-tenths of an inch of rain in one of those heavier showers.
