By LINCOLN CHRONICLE
Rainfall in May on the central Oregon coast was far below average and precipitation for the first five months of 2025 has now dropped below average as well.
That’s foreshadowing a long dry summer, as spring rains in May and June help keep forests and fields dry and water sources flowing strong before the usual very dry months of July, August and September.
Yachats-area weather watchers for Lincoln Chronicle all recorded rain amounts significantly below their 8- to 19-year averages in May.
“March was above average for rain, but all the other months have been at or below average,” said Adam Altson of Yachats, who has been recording all types of weather data for eight years. “That may not bode well for this summer. We only have another few weeks with any reasonable chance of significant rain.”
The forecast for the next week has no rain in sight.
Altson measured 2.07 inches of rain in May, for a five-month total of 28.57 inches, the lowest year-to-date total in his eight years of rainfall data.
At the Yachats wastewater treatment plant, staff measured just 1.66 inches of rain in May, for a five-month total of 26.78 inches.
Julie Bailey, who lives at the 220-foot elevation mark of Horizon Hill, recorded 2.61 inches of rain in for May for a year-to-date total of 37.24 inches – almost 10 inches more than Altson and the city staff who are less than a mile to the west but at much lower elevation.
Don Tucker, who lives two miles north of Yachats and east of U.S. Highway 101, recorded 2.17 inches of rain in May. His average May measurement over 19 years of recording is 3.44 inches. For the first five months of 2025, Tucker has recorded 35.24 inches of rain – two inches below his 19-year average.
Jim Adler, who lives three miles up the Yachats River valley, measured 2.89 inches of rain in May – far below his 16-year average of 5.06 inches. His total rain amount for the first five months of 2025 is 42.93 inches.
Bob Williams, who lives eight miles up the Yachats River valley, measured 2.04 inches of rain in May for a year-to-date total of 54.14 inches. That’s Williams’ lowest five-month total since 2019 and seven inches below his six-year average.
