We are almost halfway through March, and the weather record book so far shows the month as pretty typical for early meteorological springtime. The clear skies and full sunshine Saturday were certainly disguising what was lurking off our coastline.
Yes, the first in a series of weather systems that promise a good share of March rain madness and moderate to heavy snows in the mountains was sneaking into our area later on Saturday. That’s good news of sorts.
I say that because we need to keep our rain and snowfall up as drought conditions hover to our south and east. Clark County is not in a drought category at all and will remain that way as long as we keep some weather systems heading our way.
In Vancouver as of midday Saturday, the temperatures and rainfall totals for March were close to seasonal averages.
The outlook calls for showers today; rain Monday, possibly in the moderate category; and then unsettled weather for the rest of the work week. Some forecast models show things drying later in the week, and others keep us damp. Flip a coin.
As I have said before, March is a fickle month and can be full of surprises: sunny one moment, then dark clouds with thunder and hail, and then back again to blue skies. I always enjoyed flying kites when I was young and could hardly wait for this month to roll around. March weather, with its southerly breezes, invites kites into the heavens.
Every March, when skies are like early Saturday, I always imagine Winnie the Pooh as he tags along with Christopher Robin to fly his kite. And oh my, the winds would pick up, and the kite would lift him off the ground. That only made him want to fly, but that’s another tale.
With rain in the forecast off and on this week, I’ll keep my kite grounded and wait for another day with those awesome blue skies and towering white cumulus clouds. March weather will be nice to us on another day, I promise.
We’ll daydream of sunny skies and chat on Tuesday. Take good care.
