Weather Eye: Autumn kicks off with lots of sunshine; rain looms tonight

There was lots of sunshine to welcome the official start of autumn Wednesday, with highs in the comfortable 70-degree range. Not too bad, right? It was chilly early Wednesday, with many reports in the outlying areas of temperatures in the 30s. There was also patchy frost on rooftops and grass to boot.

I recorded a low of 39 degrees in Salmon Creek; Vancouver officially was 41 degrees for an early morning low Wednesday. The average low for the date is 50 degrees and the average high is 74 degrees.

There will likely be some good frost on the pumpkin heading our way soon. Today will see another warm and dry day, at least until late evening, when the remnants of a Pacific weather system move inland. Showers will be falling from the dark skies overnight, with a tenth to three-tenths of an inch of rain expected if it holds together.

Friday clears out, with any remaining showers mainly over the hills and mountains. This should lead to a fair weekend with seasonal temperatures. However, you will notice the feel of fall in the air, for sure.

Reports of the infamous woolly bear caterpillar are coming in from readers. The consensus thus far is the orange middle segments or bands are narrow, with four or less orange segments. This would indicate a cold and maybe snowy winter. Have these critters been reading the Old Farmer’s Almanac or what?

The old saying goes the more narrow the middle orange band, the colder the winter. A wide band of five or more segments indicates a mild winter. Take that El Nino!

I’ve been looking at these caterpillars for 40 years now and sometimes they are correct in their forecast and others, well not so good. Maybe as good as the almanacs? It is fun anyway adding an avenue of enjoyment in the weather department. If you venture out for a walk this weekend look for the thick hairy caterpillars inching along the walkway with black ends and an orange middle. After two seasons they turn in to the beautiful Isabella moth.

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

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