Ending our round on the woolly bears, Tom Baltes sent me a photo he took up in Grass Valley and mentioned the length of the black bands as well. Yes, they usually indicate when the winter will begin (orange band). In the photo he sent me and described the length of the black bands from head to the rear. He jokingly said, “It means we’ll have a long fall (Indian summer), a long rainy winter and short spring.”
The majority did indeed have a prominent wide black band, a wide orange band and then a narrow front band of black. That would follow his observations. So, we will see. Kelsey Potter of Vancouver was recently at Hartstene Pointe near Shelton and saw about 50 of the critters. There was a mix of narrow and wide bands of orange. Maybe a cooler winter up north?
Despite some heavy rain arriving Wednesday and Thursday, The National Climate Center is predicting October will be warmer than normal and possibly drier than average. So maybe the woolly bears have some insight as well.
After the rains Wednesday through Friday, we dry out and warm back up. Clark County will receive between one and three inches of rain this week, the heaviest of course in our foothills. We aren’t finished with 80-degree weather as it is looking like that for Sunday and Monday. So, get through the rains and then we get another dry spell.
