http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/05/16/news/top_stories/atop2.txt

KF above average for wet weather

May 16, 2005

By TODD KEPPLE

Klamath Falls became an above-average city Sunday - as far as precipitation goes, at least.

For the past several months the cumulative precipitation recorded at the Klamath Falls Airport lagged well behind normal. By mid-April the city was more than 2 1/2 inches below average for the water year, which started Oct. 1.

Then the rains came. Enough rain fell in the latter half of April to erase half of the precipitation deficit.

The wet trend continued over the past two weeks, and the clincher came Sunday when .30 of an inch of rain fell at the airport. The weekend's showers brought the water year total to 10.57 inches of precipitation, compared to the 30-year average of 10.40 for this time of year.

"This is what we should have gotten back in January and February," said Rick Holtz, a forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Medford.

Klamath Basin residents can expect at least one more good shot of rain this week before a drying trend takes hold, Holtz said.

"We're keeping a close eye on a developing storm that's out over the eastern Pacific," Holtz said. "We have an unusually strong westerly jet stream that's going to be spreading across the Pacific, and is really pretty much aimed right at Oregon."

The approaching storm has the potential for wind and heavy rain that's not usually seen at this time of year, Holtz said.

"It's more of a winter-type system. It looks like it's going to be a pretty good rain producer," he said.

The storm will probably hit the Klamath Basin Wednesday night.

More typical weather should occur by the weekend, Holtz said, with a ridge of high pressure expected to bring mostly sunny skies to the Klamath Basin by Sunday.

Weather records show Klamath Falls can expect just under an inch of rain to fall during May, although the city has already doubled that. The wettest May on record came in 1998, when 3.65 inches fell.