YACHATS – It didn’t rain much or at all in August, but heavy spring rains are continuing to supply ample water to the city’s homes and motels.
“We’re doing really good,” said Rick McClung, Yachats’ water treatment plant supervisor. “We’re probably at double the average creek flow for this time of year.”
The city’s treatment plant gets water from Reedy and Salmon creeks. Normally in August, McClung said, he begins using water from both. But so far Reedy Creek has been running strong enough to keep up with demand.
“I think we’ll be fine through September,” McClung said.
As usual, rainfall amounts in August around the area were miniscule, ranging from no measureable rain two miles north of Yachats to 0.04 inches 10 miles up the Yachats River, according to weather watchers who provide data to YachatsNews.
Adam Altson, who lives along Ocean View Drive in Yachats, measured 0.08 inches of water for the month.
“I think at least half of that was from condensation from heavy fog,” he said. “Effectively we had no real ‘rain’ for the month, just a couple of days of drizzle along with some additional mist and heavy fog condensation.”
That was echoed by Donald Tucker, who lives two miles north of Yachats.
“No rain recorded here, but a couple of days a trace was seen on the decks and asphalt,” he said. “Just not enough to register.”
The important month to watch will be September, Tucker said, who said his average September rainfall since 2007 is 2.73 inches.
Tucker also keeps track of daily temperatures and says his average low and high temperature measurements since 2007 for August continue an upward trend “which combined with no rainfall escalated the drying of forest and brush.”
The high temperature Tucker recorded in August was 66 degrees, occurring on five days. The highest temperature at Altson’s house in Yachats was 69.4 degrees on Aug. 22.
