First Month of Year rather dull

Welcome to 2019! The first month of the year came in about 1-3 up over "normal" on both ends of the day. I had no real snow just a flurry or two on the 6th. Snowfall has been at a severe premium this season.Precipitation in general has been running well below established norms. 

This opening month to 2019 was pretty uneventful. No deep freeze, no major run dump, no snow other than a little flurry, no record breaking warmth, nothing really. Just 11 days with morning lows below freezing, but everyday managed to get above freezing. The mercury just stayed between 27° and 56° all month.

January 2019 saw the coldest temperature at a modest 27.3° on the morning of New Year's Day, one of those aforementioned 11 sub freezing mornings. Every single day last month managed to bust up over 40° with the chilliest daytime high a 40.6° mark that came on the 26th. On the warmer side of the spectrum we managed to see 11 days with the mercury topping out above 50° the warmest of which was a toasty 56.1° on the 23rd. Not a single night stayed above 50° the warmest overnight low was the 47.3° that occurred on the 23rd, not surprisingly the same day as the warmest high. January gave us 14 days with sunshine and just 10 days with rain, and technically one day with snow, but it was just a flurry and nothing stuck.

Precipitation was dry, again. We really need some rainfall and snow pack this year, holy cow. There were only 5 days last month that managed to spill more than a 1/4 inch of rain and the most came on the 18th with 0.65 inch. The 6th had a light and brief snow flurry I unofficially estimated at a 0.10 inch equivalent. Just 2.53 inches in the rain bucket which is less than half my 17 year average for January.

It is weird looking up at Silver Star in January and seeing such a light spattering of snow. This weekend starting on Super Bowl Sunday things might just whiten up a bit all the way down to the valley floors. If not to the valley, certainly below 1000 feet and that means the foothills will look proper again for this time of year. Ski resorts in the Cascades will certainly welcome more snowfall it has been dismal this season thus far.

The local weather prognosticators don't seem to know how big a shot we will get of colder arctic air. Most of the computer models seem to suggest it will be a mild shot thus the iffy stance on valley snow. One thing for sure is that we should see significant accumulations up higher in the 1000 foot plus areas. Right now it is raining and snow levels are pretty high like 5000 feet! Those levels will plunge as the weekend progresses. So it seems that winter may arrive late this year, we shall see.

Whatever the weather soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Hot August Days.

That title sums up last month. I observed an average daily high more than 4° above my 16 year average. But we didn't have Hot August Nights as my overnight average was about 1° below my established "normal."

The month of August here in America's Vancouver can be summed up with the phrase, Hot and Dry. After a zero precipitation month in July we followed up with a near zero effort last month. I got some showery weather that came in late on August 12th and continued into the morning of the 13th leaving behind 0.13 inches in the bucket. That was all she had to give.

The month produced a pair of 100° plus days back to back on the 2nd and 3rd, that brought my total of triple digit temps for 2017 to three. That is well above my established average of 0.6 days per year over 100°. As for days over 90°, I stand at 11 with more expected this weekend. My long standing average for ninety plus degree days is 11 so we will be above average in that category this year as well.

The temperatures were for the most part typical for August. We had 27 sunny days and just two days with any precipitation and it was very light. Seven days crested the 90° mark including the aforementioned duo of triple digits. All 31 days of August yielded temps above 70° which is not at all unusual. 19 days busted out over 80°. The high mark was the 3rd when the mercury pushed up to 101.1° the second hottest day of the year. The warmest overnight low came on the morning of the 4th when it was a balmy 64° Their were 10 days with the mercury failing to drop under 60°. Our coolest afternoon high came on the 13th and 14th when both days measured an equal 71.2°. Only two other days failed to reach 75°. The chilliest overnight low was a crisp 48.2° on the 14th and that was one of two nights when the mercury dipped into the 40s. Overnight lows in the upper 40's in the summertime is not rare but it is a bit unusual. July also produced a pair of sub 50s.

The rainfall totals are minimal. A showery system rolled through on the evening of the 12th and dropped some light precipitation that continued overnight to produce two "days" with precipitation but really it was only a few hours and the total for the month was a well under average 0.13 inches of which 0.11 fell the morning of the 13th. My 'normal' rainfall in August is 1.24 inches.

The 21st was the day the sun went dark as a nearly total solar eclipse event happened here. We had 99.2% totality here in Vancouver. The photo to the left shows it when it was at around 90%. I wonder how much the eclipse effected the high temp that day? It did cool off significantly as the event peaked, and it briefly got dark enough to trigger street lights. That was one of our sub 75° days.

September will start out toasty warm to blazing hot if the NWS has their figures right. Originally there was a call for more triple digit heat but they have curtailed that back to a week of 90s including some upper 90s starting on Labor Day. So it seems we will keep padding that 90 plus count. Our 100° run may end if we fail to hit it this week. September is a strong transition month whereby we rapidly see the autumn cool arrive. Evenings will get crisp and cool and temperatures will start trending quickly into the lower 70s. Such is the case north of 45° of latitude. Seasons change rather abruptly.

Meanwhile the Western US is under a major fire crisis. Although late summer fire season is nearly always a problem in locales further south, here in the Northwest it is seemingly extra bad this year. It certainly didn't help that over the last FOUR months dating back to May 1st, I have recorded a total of just 2.83 inches of rain. That is ridiculously dry my friends. The 'normal' rainfall over that period is 8.01 inches! Going all the way back to June 16th I have recorded just 0.25 inches. WOW! that is California desert dry in the notoriously damp, Western Washington. It is not uncommon to have July go all dry, but to go 11 weeks with just a quarter inch is quite extraordinary. The smoky haze we all see is caused by raging fires all over the West and it may be the reason the NWS downgraded forecast temps from 100° plus to upper nineties this coming week.

Let's hope September is all wet shall we? I love me a nice sunny day, but we've used our allotment for 2017, bring on some showers and lets put these fires out!

Soak it up my friends; soak it up.

Warm-Tober

That was a pretty warm October. No record breaking events but definitely toasty and that has just been the case all year long. The average daily high for October, 2015 was a smoking 6.5 degrees above my 15 year "normal" and the overnight lows averaged three and a half degrees over as well. This was not due to an anomalous heat wave skewing the average, in fact, just one day recorded a temperature above 80 degrees.  No it was just really mild and that typical Autumn plunge just never materialized.

If October is a precursor to our winter we can expect a classic El Nino with warmer than average temperatures and drier than average conditions. But harbinger-smarbinger, last year we had the earliest sticking snow in my 15 years of record keeping when a one inch dusting stuck and stayed for a few days beginning on the 13th of November. Some precursor that was, it ended up being the only snowfall for the whole season!

October finished up with an average daily high of 65.93 degrees and an average overnight low of 48.82 degrees. The warmest day came on the 5th when the mercury hit 83.8 and the coolest temperature was the 23rd when it dipped to 37.9 which was the only sub 40 mark all month. The coolest afternoon was the 28th with a mild 54.5 and the warmest overnight low came on the 27th with a near summer-like 57.5. In total 18 days stayed above 50 degrees overnight and 25 days had high temperatures at 60 or more degrees.

Rainfall was deceptive. Up until and through the 30th of the month a mere inch and three quarters had fallen into the gauge. Nearly two inches more fell on the soggiest Halloween I can remember saving the month from a desert dry finish and bringing the total to near normal at 3.77 inches which is about 85% of normal for my location. Just 7 days with measurable precipitation and only 5 over .25 inch. The wettest was of course Halloween with that monsoonish 1.96 inches.

I have yet to yield a frost and haven't gotten any where near a freeze yet this season. It is quite likely that the first frost will in fact come in November as I have certainly never gone to December without achieving the first frost. In fact my records show that subfreezing weather has always occurred by the end of November to start the winter season.

So get ready for an interesting and potentially wild November, because September and October were truly mild to the point of dull, and I don't think it's possible for three dull weather months in a row, here in America's Vancouver.

August is done, is that Autumn I see peeking over the fence?

Many people enjoy a good long summer. And a good long one we have had. Generally this part of the country sees 75 days of summer starting around the first of July and ending in early September. But this year our warm and dry weather began all the way back in May! It was well above average in terms of temperatures and well below in terms of rain. Nirvana for some and for others it's "Hey Autumn come on over, Summer has worn out its welcome".

August was a bit warmer than average but not as warm as July. Temps ran just a couple of degrees on the upside both overnight and by day. Average daily high for the month was 82.22 and the average low came in at 57.73 degrees, 2.2 and 1.3 degrees above normal, respectively.

The heat monster maxed out at 96.4 degrees on the first day of the month, following a short triple digit episode at the end of July. This was one of three days last month that breached the 90 degree barrier. That is about normal for August. The coldest temperature recorded was a nippy for summer, 49.2 on the 22nd one of two evenings to drop into the 40s. The coolest afternoon high came on the 30th under blustery and wet conditions and was the only day that failed to reach 70 degrees with measly 67.2 measured. The balmiest night was a comfortable 65.1 on the 12th.

The drier than average trend has continued with August posting 0.81 inches compared to my typical 1.27 inches. July and August are often very dry so it is of no consequence like it was in May and June to have these conditions. The wettest day came on the 29th when 0.31 inches fell.

Overall the month of august was actually pretty typical if not just a tad on the warm side. One can only hope that the fall will bring with it some much needed rain and may the winter bring a healthy snow pack to our abnormally barren peaks.

Get out and soak up the last of summer my friends, soak it up!    

June was... Well... July-ish

The month of June is in the books and there is no other way to say it... It was VERY WARM. Although I never saw the realization of triple-digit heat like the NWS was suggesting, It was warm in general across the whole of the month.

Just so we are clear, prior to entering the data for June 2015, my 13 year average high for the month was 70.68 degrees. After entering this year's data that number jumped to a 14 year average of 71.52. That is nearly a full degree just from one month's data. The average daily high for June, 2015 was an warm 80.48 degrees and that is TEN degrees warmer than the previous 13 year average for the month.

June is a spring-summer transitional month weather wise. Generally we have a mix of cooler spring weather and some warm summer weather. This June was bone dry and very warm. How about 26 sunny days! That is about three June's worth of sunshine my friends.

As wonderfully warm June was, it was woefully dry in a year that has already been arid over all. My location is 10 inches drier than average through the first 6 months with a paltry 15.91 inches of precipitation. The NWS is suggesting July may end up without any precipitation. We could sure use some wet stuff.

Here is how everything played out. 26 sunny days and just 3 with rainfall. the month of June had 17 days with 80 or more degrees on the mercury. The aforementioned average high of 80.48 was nearly ten degrees over the normal with an average low that was just over 55 degrees; that's about 3 over my established norm. The hottest day came on the 26th with a mark of 94.6 degrees, The balmiest overnight low followed the hottest high with a mark of 68.1 on the morning of the 27th. The coldest daytime high came early in the month during some squalls. The 2nd was the only day in June that failed to reach the 60s with an "almost there", 59.3 degrees. The coolest overnight low was a chilly 45.6 on the 13th.

We had 3 days at 90 plus and 5 with overnight lows in the 60s. We also had some contrast with 4 nights in the chilly 40s.

Here is the real shocker. My location only recorded a measly 0.53 inches of rain. That is July dry and well under my normal of 2.47 inches. Get ready my friends for a warm summer filled with sunshine and smiley faces. Then prepare for the typical angry winter that follows such frolicky summers. Ah, go ahead in soak it up my friends; soak it up!

Finally Weather Worthy of our Reputation

We had a chilly but very dry start to our winter. We are just now starting to see a more typical soggy pattern with that incessant drip in the valleys and some healthy snow dumps up high. Despite that cold December, we have almost no snow up in the foothills. Looking up at Silver Star and seeing little or no white is pretty unusual in January. But on a sunny first week of the year, that is exactly what we saw up there. The only white peak were the big year round white tops, like Hood, Rainier, Adams and St, Helens.

Now the classic Northwest rain is a starting to stream in. For our mountain resorts, the last few days a netted a couple of feet of fresh powder and I am sure that makes those ski operators very happy. As for the next several days, the NWS says more, more and then a little more.

Meanwhile down here in the valley we are seeing some almost balmy weather. Temps at the airport have been flirting with 50 degrees all week while my home station has been in the mid forties by day. Mild winter weather has been the recipe these last 5-7 days.

Here is the forecast for the next few, yes that is a fifty in there... get out and soak it up my friends; soak it up.

A Fabulous October is in the Books

Dougan Falls, October 29th

Another month is laid to rest and this time the outcome was amazing. This past October felt like it was warmer than average.  It wasn't. The average daily high was spot on my 12 year average of slightly above 60 degrees and the overnight lows were about 3 degrees colder than my average.

Perhaps it was the lack of rain that made October so delicious. Typically about 4 inches of rain falls in October but we had just a tad more than one inch. Many areas set daily high records on the 22nd. I had 71.2 that day which was slightly lower than my all time daily high of 72 on that date back in 2005. It is however a tie for the latest 70 degree day of the year. It is quite likely I won't see 70 again until late March or April.

The numbers looked like this. Average daily low of 41.19 and high of 60.08 against "normals" of 44.93 and 60.81. Coldest night was 30 degrees on the 29th. Coldest afternoon was the 2nd with 51.6. Hottest day was 72.6 on the 7th and the warmest overnight low was 47.1 on Halloween!

The wettest day was the 27th with three tenths and the total precipitation was a desert dry 1.09 inches.

Really, this was a pretty bland October, why the heck did it feel so awesome. Wait a minute, here is an interesting stat... wait for it now... here it comes... Great Scott, that's it! We had 18 days of sunshine! That just does not happen in October very often. The fall color has been a bit flat but the great yellow orb was most gracious with her extended participation in our weather. Oh yes my friends, soak it up!

October Rain

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny October

What an amazing week we just witnessed. It was sunny every single day. Last week came off a mostly sunny week previously and this week the NWS says... More of the same. We are getting thick surface fog in the morning that burns off to gorgeous blue skies and warm sunshine. Careful driving, running or biking in the AM. Look at this week's forecast!

I have an out of town guest arriving next week and I just hope this nice weather can hang on. Has it ever gone this long in October without clouds and rain? The last rainy day was October 8th. Some weather sites are suggesting the dry sunny days will continue to the end of the month. We are going to need a wet November to offset this bone dry October. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and soak it up my friends, soak it up.