Thank Full

Thanksgiving Eve, and all is well. There are just so many darn things to be thankful for. For example, the miracle of simply being alive. And not just being alive, but living in a relatively free country and with lifestyles and technologies that we mostly take for granted. Things that past kings and the richest folks did not have and could hardly have imagined. Not to mention our ability to instantly talk to far away friends and family (and maybe even see them live with webcams) when we can't be there in person. Truly amazing times that we live in.

So much for the "Thank" part. Now, on to the "Full"... more stuffing and gravy please...zzzzzzzzz

Snow!

Well now, this is rather unexpected. Sunday afternoon, 4 pm, 34 degrees, and it's snowing in Hood River. Not sticking currently at this elevation, but it's certainly accumulating higher up. How cool is this?! We haven't had a snowfall this early in a long time. It used to be we could count on a little snow by Thanksgiving, and here it is!

The forecast is for more precipitation through Monday, and then a drying trend through Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully sunny, but I wouldn't bet against a fog inversion...

Top Banner Question

Wow, 2 weeks since I last posted here. Time flies. I will try to post more often, if for no other reason than to exercise my writing muscles.

Typical Fall weather continues (whether I post about it or not). The autumn colors along I84 (my daily commute to The Dalles) are still spectacular but will pretty much be gone by Thanksgiving. The seasons move forward, and it's all good...

Speaking of Fall colors, the Hood River Weather site top banner currently has a "Colorful Leaf" motif. It's fairly easy to change the Flash banner graphics, and I'm wondering if site visitors prefer a top banner that changes occasionally, or one that always stays the same. I will probably continue to change it every now and again, but I am interested in your opinions.

October Revisited

This year, October was distinguished by cooler nights, comfortable sunny days, and calmer winds. Overall, a very pleasant month. The average temperature was 0.9 degrees cooler than long term averages, and 2.4 degrees below 2000-2006 averages. Global warming apparently took a break here in October. Rainfall was above average, due to heavy rain around Oct 3 and Oct 18. Wind speeds were considerably lower than average, with SW winds predominate. Cooler easterlies made an occasional appearance, and there were hardly any cloudy inversion events.

There were 2 records set during October, the daily rain total of 1.17 inches on Oct 18, and the high temperature of 77 on Oct 23.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average	Variance
Temperature (F)	77.2	29.0	50.4	51.3	-0.9
Wind (mph)	27		1.4	2.5	-1.1
Rainfall (in)	1.17		4.02	2.38	1.64
Barometric (in Hg)	30.52	29.49

Snow?

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.