By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
The rain falls on the just and on the unjust. – Matthew 5:45
If there is anything that defines the Pacific Northwest, it is our rain. Across the country, even around the world to some degree, if there is any one thing that everyone seems to know about us, it is how much and how constantly it rains here.
In terms of measurable rain, or even days of rain, we in western Washington are not even in the top ten, or even twenty of our fifty states. The Gulf states, and almost every state east of the Mississippi get more, usually far more, rain than we get.
But, for what ever reason, Pacific Northwest rain has become both legendary and defining.
Few things frame our understanding of life here more than a full visual field of green trees with a real (or imagined) drizzle overhead.
Those of us who live here, and many who have never been here share the same near-mythic image of lush, green forest in a misty landscape.
The Pacific Northwest is not one endless rain forest.
But even our legendary literal rain forest is far drier than usual. Dry and smoky late summers have become an almost standard feature of our calendar year.
April flowers bring a lot more than May flowers
Those lush spring rains bring much more than abundant flowers – they bring abundant forests and thick under-growth.
All of that spring-generated flourishing greenery is food and shelter for a range of living things from bears to marmots and a full menu of insects and creatures of all sizes. And if it dries up, it is ideal fuel for late summer fires.
The vast majority of Pacific Northwest fires are human caused – either accidental or intentional.
As we all know all too well, late summer fires have become something like a standard feature of our transition into fall.
And with the return of cooler weather, the rain returns. Usually.
But, as with everything else, weather, here and everywhere else, it seems, is not what it used to be.
For those of us who grew up with traditional northwest weather, rain is not a passing force – it is a near permanent part of our landscape – even when it does not exist. And, if there was anything we in the northwest could count on, it was fall rain – usually in late September.
But like everything else it seems, not in 2022.
In 2022, we had a drier than usual September, and by mid-October, no measurable rain at all in what is usually one of our wettest seasons.
We tend, for obvious reasons, to take our rain for granted. And we tend to forget, or never even notice how much we depend on water and rain in ways few of us ever had reason to consider.
Water is Life
In many practical ways, water is literally life.
Water, coming down or flowing in rivers or in lakes or the rising and falling tides, is literal life for fish and animals and human beings and entire industries.
Our drinking water comes form the accumulated snows and glaciers of our surrounding mountains, and even our electricity comes from waters that flow through our dams and rivers.
Perhaps like everything else, we don’t think about water until we need to.
The old saying, The rain falls on the just and on the unjust has a different meaning for those of us who grew up in the shadow of near-constant rain.
We know, or thought we knew, that the rain just fell.
The idea of any moral dimension was entirely absent. Everyone, whether they wanted, or deserved or even needed the rain, got it.
Good people, bad people, rich or poor, young or old, city people or rural people, employed or unemployed, we all got rain.
Farmers and home-owners and business people all got the rain at the same time.
Agriculture and markets around the world depend on predictable seasonal rains for crops and sustenance or profit. Most of us around here don’t see agriculture directly, but out of season rain (or the lack of it) directly impacts our grocery bills.
And, for more and more of us, even though we never imagined it possible, the rain directly impacts our ability to breathe.
Haze
Up until a few years ago the word “haze” would not be found on a local weather report. But now, from May to October, it has become a standard feature.
Wildfire smoke has become an increasing danger to all of us. Smoke from those distant forest fires is made up of a combination of harmful chemicals and tiny particles suspended in the air. This smoke can make anyone sick, even otherwise healthy individuals.
And, as we are all learning, wildfire smoke can cause immediate symptoms like coughing, stinging eyes, runny nose and scratchy throat. Those with asthma, allergies or any kind of breathing sensitivities find themselves susceptible to major respiratory problems. Local hospitals, for example, were over-whelmed recently, on yet another hazy/smoke-filled day with people, young and old, struggling to breathe – even inside.
You can see a constantly updated air quality map of Washington state here.
Having air quality warnings from forest fires was one thing I never expected to experience here in the Pacific Northwest, but here it is.
