Sunny day gives way to rain, possible thunderstorms Thursday

Hopefully Southwest Washington residents soaked up enough sunshine to last for a few days Wednesday because the clouds are coming back.

The thermal trough that sat over the West Coast and brought with it warm temperatures and lots of sunshine Wednesday will get pushed out of the region by a wet and cooler system that is moving in from the Pacific Ocean.

Rain has been an ever-present feature of life in the Vancouver region since the start of this year. Since Jan. 1, 26.13 inches of rain has fallen on Vancouver, 9.75 inches more than normal.

The National Weather service is predicting a high of 72 degrees Thursday with a slight chance of thunderstorms after 2 p.m. and, yes, a 70 percent chance of rain. That rain is going to be here for a few days.

“We’ll get rain and clouds at least until the weekend,” said National Weather Service meteorologist David Bishop.

Friday has a 70 percent chance of rain during the day and a 40 percent chance of rain at night. It’s followed by a 30 percent chance of rain Saturday. The sun is expected to break through the clouds on Sunday.

So was Wednesday a harbinger of better weather or is Southwest Washington going to live under a perpetual rain cloud until winter begins?

“Spring will start to lighten up here in a little bit,” Bishop said. “We had a wacky winter and some of that is carrying over into spring, but we should get into a typical Portland springtime as we approach June.”

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