NASELLE – After all of the growling and grumbling, one would assume that the August weather in the Naselle area was anything but nice.

At least, it seemed that way, as three clear days in succession seemed to be hard to come by. Even the old timers were heard to mumble something like, “Aw, but it’s a warm rain,” as yet another couple of nice days seemed to be followed by yet another round of fog, clouds and drizzle. But was the weather as poor as one seemed to feel?

Not so. At least the rainfall statistics as kept at the Naselle Hatchery don’t necessarily agree with what one’s mind was experiencing. August actually came in on the dry side of the ledger as the driest, warmest month of the summer with 1.17 inches of precipitation during the month. The 25-year average for the month is 1.96 inches, calculated from a low of 0.03 of an inch in August 2003 to an August high of 9.29 inches in 2001 (Now, that was a wet one!).

Granted, the 1.17 inches of precip seemed to be steady and consistent, and it was that way until nearly the end of the month, when never more than three days went by without being followed by sea fog, “Oregon mist,” and drizzle blanketing the valley. However, the only days with much meaningful rainfall occurred on the 19th when 0.41 of an inch was recorded and on the 21st when 0.35 of an in inch was captured in the rain bucket. Other than those two days, the greatest daily rainfall, during the nine days when rain was recorded, was 0.11 of an inch.

Ah, but how about the thermometer? “Chamber of Commerce” temperature readings dominated the area for the entire month with daytime highs ranging from 71 to 90 and night-time lows from 41 to 57. Mid-west, east coast and southern states, eat your heart out!

The last two days of the month saw the temperature climb to 90 degrees. But other than during those two days, the weather remained balmy with 12 days in the 80s, 13 days between 75 and 80, and with the daytime temperature never dropping below 71 for the entire month.

Conversely, the night-time temperatures provided near perfect sleeping weather as “nature’s air conditioner” kept things on an even keel.

The under average August rain measurement reversed the trend of above average rainfall for the summer months. Since June, nearly 10 inches of rainfall had been measured at the hatchery, over two inches above the three month’s summer average. The total rainfall for the first eight months of the year is 59.94 inches, still nearly nine inches behind last year’s total.