Today is October 1st and that means it’s the start of a new rain season. Eugene ended the last rain season nearly 22 inches less than the average rainfall total. However, weather and climate fans will continue debating whether what is considered “normal” or “average” is an accurate reflection of what really is Eugene’s average. Much of that debate involves the new rain gauge installed in Eugene in 1996. That same year, NWS officially corrected Eugene’s rain total to 101.93”. That’s 35” more than what fell in Salem that same period.
For more information about this go to http://zebu.uoregon.edu/raining.html
Anyway, looking ahead, the second graphic above shows the average rainfall each of the next three months. November and December are statistically Eugene’s two wettest months.
I will be attending the annual meeting “What will winter be like in Oregon” on October 17th. I'm looking forward to hearing what climatologists are predicting and sharing it with you on the following Monday. We’ll see if they expect wetter, drier, warmer or cooler conditions this year.
-KMTR Meteorologist Brent Prasnikar
