Nope. No snow. Probably not any time soon, either. However, historically speaking, October 29 is the earliest date in Fall that measurable snow has fallen in Hood River. Back on Oct 29, 1935, Hood River received 2.2 inches of the white stuff.
The average first frost in Hood River is Oct 20. We had our first frost this morning, with temperatures dipping down to 29 degrees. Only six days later than average. Last year, the earliest frost was Oct 10 (31 degrees), with a deep freeze of 20 degrees on 10/31 (Halloween!)
In an earlier post, I wondered out loud if global warming would extend the frost free season. Apparently not, at least for this year. Stay tuned.
I'm starting to get a little paranoid. This year, more often than not, when I make an observation and/or prediction like "wow it sure is raining a lot", the weather almost immediately changes to the opposite.
From Sunday on, the weather went from constant rain to pretty nice and then to super nice and then to record warm temperature nice. Today's high of 77 blasted through the old record for the date of 74 (1928). Plus no wind... how great (and unusual) is that....
So, using a little reverse psychology, my prediction for the next week is rain, snow, ice, and hurricane force winds. That should ensure some great sunny calm weather ahead.
Ever since I made my prediction that this Fall would be drier than normal, it has been raining practically nonstop. Last Thursday's (Oct 18) rain of 1.17 inches drowned the previous record for the date of 0.39 inches set in 1996. As of right now, we are 2.61 inches above normal since October 1.
But I'm not complaining. The more rain (and mountain snow), the better. Especially since new reports indicate that Mt. Hood's glaciers, like most of the planet's glaciers, have been shrinking rather dramatically. This can't be a good thing, especially for water supplies.
The average temperature in September was 2.0 degrees above long term averages, but 0.5 degrees cooler than 2000-2006 averages. Rainfall was below average. Wind speeds were higher than average, with WSW winds predominate.
There were 2 records set during September, the "high low" temperatures on 9/14 and 9/15. More warm nights...
| High | Low | Average | Historical Average | Variance | |
| Temperature (F) | 92.7 | 39.3 | 62.5 | 60.5 | 2.0 |
| Wind (mph) | 35 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 0.8 | |
| Rainfall (in) | 0.54 | 0.62 | 0.92 | -0.30 | |
| Barometric (in Hg) | 30.26 | 29.63 | 29.94 |
Today (Oct 1) marks the start of another rain year. The one we just finished was rainier than normal, with 34.69 inches of precipitation in the yearly bucket ending yesterday. The average in Hood River is 30.03 inches. This year's excess was due to the record rains last November that continued into December. From then on, the rain was pretty much below average.
The record max year for precipitation was 1996, in which 53.69 inches were recorded. The record low amount was 15.75 inches in 1944.
And right on schedule, the rain returns. Yesterday, 0.53 inches of rain, today (so far) 0.18 inches.
