Hoquiam Lions Club annual Rain Derby winners announced

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 2, 2017

Of the nearly 4,300 guesses made in the 2016 Hoquiam Lions Club Rain Derby, two entries hit Hoquiam’s annual rainfall total right on the nose. However, Dan Prater’s tiebreaker guess for the total December rainfall was closer than that made by Lytle Seafoods and he took home the $1,000 top prize.

The contest has been a mainstay of the club’s fundraising activities since the 1950s and offers a $1,000 top prize for the closest prediction. Prater and Lytle Seafoods both guessed the total annual rainfall, 76.60 inches. Prater had 9.7 inches of rain as his December prediction, Lytle 11.6; the actual amount was 8.33 inches, making Prater this year’s winner. If somebody guesses the exact annual and December rainfall, an additional $4,000 is added to the top prize for a total of $5,000.

The total prize purse this year was $1,800. Others in the money were Linda Borth, third place; Frank Jepsen, fourth place; and Evan Russell, fifth place. The final rainfall stats and winners are tallied after 9 p.m. Dec. 31.