LAKE COUNTY >> Few noticed when clouds converged, briefly splattering parts of Lake County with rain on Monday evening. It appeared as dark splotches on asphalt and evaporated so quickly, not even Accuweather’s monitoring station in Lakeport recorded a drop.
“There were sprinkles — pretty widespread,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Crain Shoemaker.
He explained that the moisture was leftover from the waning tropical storm Lidia, a system that pounded Baja California in Mexico. It just brushed through this area, bringing more rain elsewhere.
Still, the arrival of clouds on Monday signaled a change in Lake County’s weather. If forecasts hold true, temperatures will dip below average for the first time in well over a month. And Accuweather predicts a more substantial sprinkle for Thursday afternoon.
It will not amount to much — just 0.03 of an inch is expected. It would, however, amount to the first measurable precipitation in Lake County since June 8, when 0.09 of an inch dampened the earth.
The trace of rain coincides with plummeting temperatures. Accuweather calls for a high of 75 on Thursday, well below the average of 88. This follows a mark of 87 yesterday and a forecast 82 today — welcome relief after the recent triple digit trend.
“We have a trough of low pressure that developed over the eastern Pacific,” said the NWS’ Shoemaker, explaining the change.
The system brought cooler temperatures, as well as wind gusts that helped to push out some of the smoke that had been affecting local air quality.
According to the Weather Service, the respite will be brief.
“Things are going to warm back up this weekend,” Shoemaker said.
The NWS expects mid to low 80s through Friday. The mercury will climb back up over the 90 mark starting on Saturday. But there is no sign of a return to triple digits.
Lake County has experienced only two showers amounting to a total of 0.12 of an inch since one of the wettest rainy seasons in recent memory faded in a final sprinkle on April 26. Yet the winter deluge that led to flooding around the lake contributed to much higher lake levels this summer.
As of noon on Tuesday, Clear Lake measured 3.41 on the Rumsey Gauge. Last year on the same day, the average mark was approximately 2.27 on a day of choppy water.
Long range forecasts from the Weather Service call for normal precipitation levels over the coming rainy season. Shoemaker says there is no apparent impulse toward El Niño or La Niña.
“Let’s hope we get a normal year, because those are so rare,” he said. “And that’s what we’re looking at now. There’s no real sign of wet or dry.”
