October, historically the wettest month of the year in Haines, has started like May, the driest.

The last measurable rainfall occurred Sept. 28, starting a stretch of dry fall weather topped only by a 15-day span in 1997. With rain not forecast until Monday, it appears a new record will be set.

“For the last of September and October, we’re usually wet,” said Kimberly Vaughan, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Juneau.

On average, nearly eight inches of rain falls in Haines in October, with more than 2.5 inches by Oct. 11.

But clear skies have brought days warmer than average and nights a bit colder.

“A high-pressure ridge has been hanging over the Panhandle and keeping everything out of our area. The jet stream is heading into Washington. All that fun weather that Seattle is having should have been ours,” Vaughan said of recent storms there.

That’s good news for tradesmen racing the weather to finish outdoor projects. Adam Balloch was painting the west wall of the Haisler’s Building this week and grateful for the unseasonable weather.

Balloch said temperatures of at least 45 degrees are needed for a paint job to last 25 years. With highs averaging 52 this month, that wasn’t a problem, although nighttime temperatures started dipping below freezing early this week. “We’re pushing it, though. By the end of the week, we better get on.”

Dry weather isn’t so good for coho, salmon that arrive here during the fall. They’re easy for anglers to see and to catch when local rivers are clear, although they tend to wait for storms to move upriver, said Brian Elliott, a Chinook salmon stock assessment biologist for the Division of Sport Fish in Haines.

“Coho move during low-pressure precipitation events. I imagine there are a lot of fish holding in the estuary. It’s amazing how they move in big storms,” Elliott said. Storms flood streams and allow coho to clear obstacles to reach spawning habitat, like jumping over beaver dams, he said.

“They need a rainfall event to get where they need to go,” Elliott said.

He expressed optimism the fish would get the weather they needed. “I feel the weather is going to return to normal at some point, but the way things are going, what’s normal?”