Weather Eye: Memorial Day holiday should be sunny and mild

Let’s begin by reviewing April’s rainfall from around the area from your friends and neighbors.

Jim Knoll, Five Corners, 3.41 inches; Robin Ruzek, Lake Shore, 2.37 inches; Chuck Houghten, Hockinson Heights, 5.15 inches; Tyler Mode, Battle Ground, 3.84 inches; Bob Mode, Minnehaha, 1.98 inches; Irv St. Germain, Prune Hill, 4.15 inches; Dave Campell, 1 mile west of Heisson, 3.33 inches; Ellen Smart, Ridgefield, 2.30 inches; Judy Weber, near View, 4.13 inches; Bill Sobolewski, Livingston Mountain, 4.07 inches; and Dick Lenahan, Meadow Glade, 3.62 inches. Our friend Roland Derksen in Vancouver, B.C., reported 4.25 inches. The official rainfall for Vancouver USA was 2.01 inches, .92 of an inch below average. A good share of April’s rain came in the last week of the month.

Looking at the observations so far this month as I write this column, Vancouver is about normal with the average mean temperature and about one-quarter of an inch above average with rainfall. By Memorial Day we will be about average with the rain as none is in the forecast except for a small chance of sprinkles today.

Partly sunny skies today and mostly sunny Sunday and Monday for the holiday with highs at 70 Sunday and 75 or so on Monday. All in all, not bad. Folks that went camping in the higher elevations for the holiday found themselves with chilly temperatures as the snow level was forecast to be about 4,000 feet this morning. Chilly.

OK, beyond the holiday it appears we will be in an unsettled weather regime with a variable chance of showers on any given day Tuesday through Friday. However, any moisture that falls will be on the warmer side of things rather than the chilly rains we have experienced so far this month.

Some forecast models hint of a rapid warmup for next weekend as a hot area of high pressure slowly moves northward from the desert Southwest. That remains to be seen so we keep it on the horizon as the month of June rolls in. After all, the Rose Festival begins in Portland, and we all know about the intrusive “Rose Festival Low” that can shroud the area with clouds and rain.

I give my respects to all those who sacrificed their lives for our country this Memorial Day.