FORKS — It was a historically dry July in the Pacific Northwest, particularly on the West End of Clallam County.
The National Weather Service station at the Quillayute Airport between Forks and LaPush — the longest-running data hub on the North Olympic Peninsula — reported a mere 0.01 inches of precipitation last month, tying a record low that was set in 1889.
“It’s been a really pleasant month, actually,” Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon said when told of the 124-year-old record.
Forks — usually one of the wettest spots in the nation, with rainfall topping 12 feet some years — has a year-to-date accumulation of 56.95 inches this year, or 4.7 feet.
And July stood out for dry weather.
Despite the lack of rain, a consistent layer of fog has been rolling off the coast to keep temperatures down in the mornings.
Other than the lack of precipitation, it was a pretty typical July for this cloud-covered city of 3,500 people, Monohon said.
When the forest gets dry, local officials care little about meteorological records.
It’s all about the fire danger from the rapidly drying fuels.
“If it keeps up this way another three or four weeks, I know I’m going to be pretty concerned,” Monohon said.
University of Washington atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass noted Forks’ dry spell in Wednesday’s blog post about the idyllic Northwest weather.
Mass wrote the book on Northwest weather and communicates with the public on KPLU 88.5 FM National Public Radio in Seattle (KVIX 89.3 in Port Angeles and Victoria) and his popular blog, www.cliffmass.blogspot.com.
“Perhaps the most extraordinary occurrence was the aridity of the northern Washington coast,” Mass wrote this week.
“Quillayute [Airport, near Forks] tied the driest month on record set 124 years ago in 1889 (.01 inch),” he said.
“The precipitation record I am referring to actually combines two stations because of a move.”
Weather data for Forks were collected on Tatoosh Island between 1883 and 1966, when the instruments were moved to the airport on shore.
“This is a very big record to tie,” Mass wrote.
“No one alive today has experienced such dry conditions on the coast.”
Historical records for Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend, all of which experienced an unusually dry July, were not immediately available from the National Weather Service in Seattle or the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, Nev.
Forks weather made regional news July 16 when KOMO-TV meteorologist and Port Angeles native Scott Sistek reported that the temperature there jumped from 49 to 90 degrees in an eight-hour span before falling precipitously to the 70s.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
