YACHATS – Despite a deluge of rain in early January, the month saw mostly below-average rainfall in the Yachats area to kick off the first month of 2022.
But as always the case, the rain total depended where it was measured.
The city of Yachats recorded 5.86 inches of rain at its wastewater treatment plant in January, compared with a 10-year average for the month of 8 inches.
But three miles up the Yachats River, longtime weather watcher Jim Adler recorded 11.78 inches of rain in January, just 0.29 inches below his 14-year average for the month. Bob Williams, who lives eight miles up the valley, measured 12.59 inches.
Donald Tucker, who lives just east of U.S. Highway 101 two miles north of Yachats, measured 6.62 inches of rain in January – three inches less than his January average over 16 years.
Adam Altson, who lives a block from the city’s wastewater treatment plant, measured just 4.87 inches of rain. He said there were 10 dry days between Jan. 22-30 and “not only dry, but were sunny, crystal clear days.”
January’s below average or average rainfall – again, depending on where it is measured – follows a mostly average year of rainfall in 2021. In 2021, Adler measured 97.6 inches of rain at his upriver home, – almost 6 inches higher than his 10-year average. But in Yachats, the city measured at the 64.81 inches of rain at its wastewater treatment plant in 2021, five inches below its 10-year average.