With a nod toward Charles Dickens, April 2022 was quite a contrast with April 2021, at least in the rainfall department. Here on the Tree Farm (5 miles east of Lebanon), we recorded 5.54 inches of rain for April 2022 which is almost 10 times the 0.52 inches recorded in April 2021.

Last year, we needed to water newly planted seedlings while this year, we had to keep them from floating away. The 5.54 April inches are not the most recorded on the Farm for April — which was 8.83 inches in April 2003 —but it was substantially more than our 20-year April average of 4.29 inches.
The Oregonian reported on May 1 that Portland airport recorded its wettest April in 2022 after recording its driest April in 2021. Records at the airport began in 1939. Although we had a wet April, it’s still dry for this temperate rainforest.

The Farm has recorded 37.97 inches for the 2022 water year which measures precipitation between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022. The 20-year water year average is 47.08. As we enter a drier summer, we still need over 9 inches to reach our average.