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Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
000
CXUS56 KPQR 111841
CLAPDX
ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
1000 AM PST FRI JAN 11 2013
...2012 PORTLAND WEATHER YEAR IN REVIEW...
JANUARY...JANUARY HAD A LITTLE TO OFFER FOR EVERYONE. THE MONTH
STARTED AND ENDED MILD...BUT IN BETWEEN CAME RAIN...SNOW AND CHILLY
EAST WINDS. STRONGEST EAST WINDS CAME ON THE 11TH...WITH 38 MPH GUST
RECORDED AT THE AIRPORT. A FEW DAYS LATER...SNOW FELL IN THE METRO
AREA. ON THE 17TH INTO THE 18TH...TWO TO FOUR INCHES FELL OVER THE
ON PORTLAND. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE REPORTED 2.3 INCHES
WHILE DOWNTOWN HAD 3.4 INCHES. AFTER THE SNOW CAME WARM RAIN. OVER 3
INCHES FELL ON THE 18TH THROUGH THE 20TH...WITH SOME LOCALIZED
FLOODING IN THE METRO AREA.
FEBRUARY...RATHER BENIGN MONTH...AS TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL WERE
NEAR NORMAL. FEBRUARY DID EXPERIENCE MORE CLOUDY NIGHT THAN USUAL
WHICH ALLOWED FOR ONLY 2 NIGHTS WITH TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING.
HOWEVER...THOSE CLOUDS ALSO KEEP DAYTIME HIGHS DOWN.
MARCH...IT WAS A VERY ACTIVE MONTH...WITH PRECIPITATION WELL ABOVE
NORMAL AND TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW NORMAL. SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL EVENTS CONTRIBUTED TO A MONTHLY TOTAL OF 7.89 AT THE
AIRPORT WHICH MADE FOR THE WETTEST MARCH SINCE 1941. 7 DAYS SAW
RAINFALL OF AT LEAST A HALF INCH...WHICH WAS A NEW RECORD. OLD
RECORD WAS 6 SUCH DAYS...SET IN 1997.
APRIL...AN UNEVENTFUL MONTH WITH RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES WERE CLOSE
TO SEASONAL NORMALS. 2012 IS THE FIRST YEAR SINCE 2009 THAT THE
MERCURY CLIMBED INTO THE 80S IN APRIL. IN FACT...2012 HAD AT LEAST ONE
DAY OF 80 DEG OR WARMER EACH MONTH FROM APRIL TO OCTOBER. THE LAST TIME
THIS HAPPENED WAS BACK IN 2004.
MAY...THE COOL AND WET SPRING CONTINUES. PRECIPITATION WAS ABOUT
50 PERCENT ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS 1.5 DEG
BELOW NORMAL...WITH 22 OUT OF THE 31 DAYS COMING IN BELOW NORMAL
JUNE...THIS MONTH PICKED UP RIGHT WHERE MAY LEFT OFF. PRECIPITATION
RAN ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE 4TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH. JUNE CLOCKED IN WITH
4.10 INCHES OF RAIN...WHICH IS THE 2ND WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. THE
PERIOD FROM MARCH THROUGH JUNE BROUGHT 31.29 INCHES OF RAIN...WHICH
IS THE 4TH WETTEST SPRING SINCE 1940. MEANWHILE TEMPERATURES RAN ALMOST
2 AND HALF DEG BELOW NORMAL.
JULY...AFTER A VERY WET SPRING...JULY STARTED THE SUMMER OFF
ON A DRY NOTE. MONTHLY RAINFALL WAS ABOUT A THIRD OF NORMAL. DESPITE
MORE DAYS IN THE 80S THAN RECENT YEARS FOR JULY...TEMPERATURES FAILED
TO REACH 90 DEG OR WARMER FOR THE 2ND YEAR IN A ROW.
AUGUST...AHH...SUMMER. AUGUST WAS A DRY AND WARM MONTH. FOR THE
FIRST TIME SINCE 2009...TEMPERATURES FINALLY CLIMBED TO 100 DEG.
NOT ONCE...BUT TWICE. WARMEST DAY OF THE YEAR WAS ON AUGUST 4TH
WITH A HIGH OF 102 DEG AT THE AIRPORT...AND 100 DEG DOWNTOWN.
IN ADDITION...AUGUST 2012 WAS TIED WITH 4 OTHER YEARS AS THE
DRIEST (1955..1967..1970 AND 1998).
SEPTEMBER...SOME SAY SEPTEMBER IS THE NEW AUGUST. COULD BE...AS
WARM DRY WEATHER CONTINUED. IT WAS THE 5TH DRIEST SEPTEMBER SINCE
1940...AS ONLY 0.04 INCH OF RAIN WAS RECORDED AT THE AIRPORT.
DOWNTOWN PORTLAND RECORDED 0.01 INCH OF RAIN...MAKING SEPTEMBER
2012 THE 4TH DRIEST FOR DOWNTOWN SINCE 1872.
OCTOBER...BEAUTIFUL LATE SUMMER WEATHER CONTINUED INTO OCTOBER.
HOWEVER THE NORMAL RETURN TO FALL ARRIVED BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 12TH
WITH MUCH COOLER AND WET WEATHER. FIRST DAY OF RAIN ON THE 12TH WAS
IMPRESSIVE...WITH OVER AN INCH OF RAIN RECORDED. RAIN FELL ON ALL
BUT ONE DAY FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH. THIS PUSHED OCTOBER 2012
RAINFALL TO OVER SIX INCHES. NOT A RECORD...BUT STILL A WET MONTH.
NOVEMBER...ACTIVE WEATHER THAT STARTED IN OCTOBER CONTINUED IN
NOVEMBER. AGAIN...ANOTHER MONTH WITH ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL...BUT
TEMPERATURES WERE MILDER. THIS MOSTLY IN PART DUE TO MORE CLOUD COVER
AT NIGHT WHICH KEPT OVERNIGHT LOWS FROM DROPPING TOO COOL. STRONG FRONT
ON THE 18TH INTO THE 19TH BROUGHT 1.50 TO 2.50 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE
PORTLAND/VANCOUVER METRO AREA.
DECEMBER...SERIES OF STRONG FRONTS WITH RAIN AND WIND PUSHED ACROSS
THE REGION DURING FIRST PART OF DECEMBER. THE STRONGEST BROUGHT
POWERFUL SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ON THE 16TH INTO THE 17TH...
RESULTING IN TREE DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES ACROSS THE METRO AREA.
A PEAK WIND GUST OF 48 MPH WAS RECORDED AT THE PORTLAND AIRPORT.
LATER DECEMBER BROUGHT SOMEWHAT MORE TRANQUIL AND MORE SEASONABLE
TEMPERATURES. LOW TEMPERATURE OF 29 DEG ON THE 29TH WAS THE FIRST
OCCURRENCE OF 32 DEG OR COLDER LOW TEMPERATURE OF THE WINTER SEASON.
THIS WAS THE LATEST PORTLAND HAS HAD TO WAIT FOR THE FIRST FREEZING
TEMPERATURE OF THE WINTER SINCE 1940. PREVIOUS RECORD LATEST
OCCURRENCE WAS DEC 25 1966.
METRO AREA SAW SNOW ACCUMULATE ON THE HILLS ON THE 15TH...BUT
SNOWFLAKES AT THE AIRPORT OR THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
MELTED AS THEY STRUCK THE GROUND. ANOTHER BURST OF SNOW ARRIVED ON
THE 31ST...BUT ONLY DUSTINGS WERE REPORTED...BUT HEAVIER
ACCUMULATIONS WERE ACROSS THE RIVER IN VANCOUVER.
================================================================
PORTLAND AIRPORT RECORDS SET IN 2012...
(PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES)
JANUARY....
NONE.
FEBRUARY...
21ST RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 50 DEG (49/1968)
MARCH...
12TH RECORD DAILY RAINFALL 1.03 INCH (0.84/1989)
14TH TIED RECORD COOL HIGH TEMP 43 DEG (1957)
21ST RECORD COOL HIGH TEMP 39 DEG (47/1975)
MAR WETTEST MARCH SINCE 1940. 7.89 INCHES (7.52/1957)
MAR RECORD CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH 0.10 INCH OR RAIN OR MORE
13 DAYS (MAR 10TH-22ND)(PREVIOUS RECORD 9 IN 1957,1945)
MAR MOST DAYS IN MARCH WITH AT LEAST 0.50 INCH OR MORE
7 DAYS (PREVIOUS RECORD 6 IN 1997)
APRIL...
7TH RECORD DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE 31 DEG (32/1970)
22ND RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE 82 DEG (79/1977)
23RD RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE 82 DEG (79/1995)
MAY...
3TH RECORD DAILY RAINFALL 0.76 INCH (0.66/1948)
10TH TIED RECORD DAILY LOW TEMP 37 DEG (1999,1963)
14TH RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE 88 DEG (86/1973)
20TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 57 DEG (2006)
26TH RECORD DAILY RAINFALL 1.03 INCH (0.93/1953)
JUNE...
8TH RECORD DAILY RAINFALL 0.63 INCH (0.59/1981)
16TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 60 DEG (1969,1966,1961)
JUN TIED RECORD FOR MOST DAYS IN JUNE WITH AT LEAST 0.50
INCH OR MORE 3 DAYS (OTHER YEAR WAS 1954 WITH 3 DAYS)
JUN 2ND WETTEST JUNE SINCE 1940.
JULY...
NONE.
AUGUST...
4TH RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE 102 DEG (100/1990)
5TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 64 DEG (1990)
AUG TIED AS DRIEST AUGUST SINCE 1941 WITH 4 OTHER YEARS
(1955..1967..1970 AND 1998)
SEPTEMBER...
SEPT 5TH DRIEST SEPTEMBER SINCE 1941.
OCTOBER...
12TH RECORD DAILY RAINFALL 1.11 INCH (0.82/1968)
28TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 55 DEG (52/1969,1941)
29TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 57 DEG (52/1997,1953)
30TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 57 DEG (2009)
OCT OVERNIGHT LOWS AVERAGE IS 4TH WARMEST
NOVEMBER...
3RD TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 54 DEG (1980,1955)
4TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 58 DEG (54/2006)
5TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 53 DEG (51/1944)
19TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 49 DEG (1965,1962)
30TH RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMP 61 DEG (58/1941)
DECEMBER...
4TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 47 DEG (46/1989,1946)
29TH RECORD LONGEST WAIT FOR FIRST LOW TEMP OF 32 DEG OR
COLDER IN FALL. PREVIOUS LATEST WAS DEC 25 IN 1966.
================================================================
2012 MEAN TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL RANKINGS...
(1 IS THE WARMEST OR WETTEST...AND 71 IS THE COLDEST OR DRIEST)
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
TEMP 30 37 59 17 28 55 40 9 12 13 12 14
RAIN 21 52 1 19 15 2 50 71 68 7 13 21
SEASON TEMPERATURE RAINFALL DATES USED
WINTER 2011-12 38 17 22 DEC-21 MAR
SPRING 2012 30 4 22 MAR-21 JUN
SUMMER 2012 18 52 22 JUN-21 SEP
DEEP SUMMER 2012 20 62 5 JUL-31 AUG
EARLY AUTUMN 2012 12 43 1 SEP-15 OCT
AUTUMN 6 5 22 SEP-21 DEC
2012 YEAR 18 4 - - - -
================================================================
2012 TEMPERATURE DATA...
AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMP EXTREMES/ DATE
MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST LOWEST
================================================================
JAN 47.3 34.3 40.8 -0.6 56 ON 24,25TH 26 ON 13TH
FEB 49.0 37.7 43.4 -0.4 57 ON 21ST 30 ON 5TH
MAR 52.1 38.0 45.1 -3.1 66 ON 8TH 28 ON 7TH
APR 61.5 44.5 53.0 +0.7 82 ON 22,23RD 31 ON 7TH
MAY 67.9 48.0 58.0 -0.3 88 ON 14TH 37 ON 10TH
JUN 69.7 52.7 61.2 -2.4 85 ON 16TH 46 ON 6TH
JUL 78.2 57.8 68.0 -1.2 88 ON 8TH 50 ON 4TH, 23RD
AUG 83.3 58.9 71.1 +1.6 102 ON 4TH 49 ON 24TH
SEP 78.7 53.4 66.1 +1.6 95 ON 7TH 47 ON 11TH
OCT 64.4 47.6 56.0 +1.1 82 ON 1ST 40 ON 8TH
NOV 54.1 43.3 48.7 +2.1 66 ON 4TH 35 ON 22ND,27TH
DEC 47.1 38.5 42.8 +2.4 57 ON 4TH 29 ON 29TH
2012 62.8 46.3 54.4 -0.1 102 ON AUG 4 26 ON JAN 13
NORMAL 63.2 45.7 54.5 <-------- 1981-2010 CLIMATIC NORMALS
DAYS WITH HIGHS OF... DAYS WITH LOWS OF...
MONTH <=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+
===============================================================
JAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0
FEB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
MAR 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
APR 0 16 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
MAY 0 24 12 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
JUN 0 29 11 4 0 0 0 0 3 0
JUL 0 31 29 17 0 0 0 0 9 0
AUG 0 31 31 14 8 2 0 0 15 0
SEP 0 30 27 14 3 0 0 0 1 0
OCT 0 23 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOV 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
2012 0 193 121 56 11 2 0 25 28 0
NORMAL 3 193 117 47 13 - <1 37 15 0
FIRST AND LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2012 NORMALLY
LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING... APR 7 MAR 4
FIRST 70+ DEG IN SPRING... APR 21 APR 1
FIRST 80+ DEG IN SPRING/SUMMER... APR 22 MAY 2
FIRST 90+ DEG IN SPRING/SUMMER ... AUG 4 JUN 15
LAST 90+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... SEP 17 AUG 28
LAST 80+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... OCT 1 SEP 26
LAST 70+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... OCT 8 OCT 16
FIRST 32 DEGREES OR LOWER IN FALL... DEC 29 NOV 24
================================================================
2012 RAINFALL AND SNOWFALL DATA...
TOTAL DEPARTURE DAYS WITH AT LEAST... GREATEST IN
MONTH RAIN FM NORMAL 0.01 0.10 0.50 1.00 24HRS & DATE
================================================================
JAN 6.82 +1.94 17 12 5 1 1.93 JAN 19-20
FEB 2.83 -0.83 20 12 0 0 0.56 FEB 28-29
MAR 7.89 +4.21 22 20 7 2 1.46 MAR 29-30
APR 3.25 +0.52 18 12 0 0 0.52 APR 15-16
MAY 3.37 +0.90 12 9 2 1 1.11 MAY 25-26
JUN 4.10 +2.40 16 10 3 0 0.87 JUN 22-23
JUL 0.21 -0.44 5 1 0 0 0.11 JUL 15
AUG TRACE -0.67 0 0 0 0 TRACE AUG 5,6,18
SEP 0.04 -1.43 1 0 0 0 0.04 SEP 10
OCT 6.14 +3.14 18 13 5 1 1.11 OCT 12
NOV 8.23 +2.60 17 15 7 2 2.14 NOV 18-19
DEC 7.56 -2.07 24 17 6 2 1.40 DEC 29-30
2012 50.44 +14.41 170 121 35 9 2.14 NOV 18-19
NORMAL 36.03 N/A 156 94 21 4
WATER YEAR 2011-12 TOTAL (OCT 1 2011 THROUGH SEP 30 2012)
39.73 INCHES +3.70 INCHES FROM NORMAL
2012 SNOWFALL...
(MEASUREMENTS TAKEN AT NWS OFFICE ON NE 122ND AVE)
JAN 2.3 INCHES
FEB TRACE
MAR 0.8 INCH
APR TO NOV 0.0
DEC TRACE
CALENDAR YEAR 2012 TOTAL..... 3.1 INCHES
============================================================
2012 WIND AND PRESSURE DATA...
MEAN CLIMATE NORMAL STRONGEST PEAK WIND
MONTH SPEED MEAN SPEED (SPEED, DIR AND DATE)
==============================================================
JAN 7.4 MPH 9.9 MPH EAST 38 MPH JAN 11
FEB 8.9 9.4 EAST 39 MPH FEB 3
MAR 8.3 8.3 SOUTH 48 MPH MAR 12
APR 6.6 7.5 WEST 37 MPH APR 26
MAY 5.8 7.2 SOUTHWEST 45 MPH MAY 3
JUN 5.2 7.3 WEST 31 MPH JUN 8
JUL 5.6 7.6 NORTHEAST 26 MPH JUL 20
AUG 5.6 7.1 NORTHWEST 26 MPH AUG 12
SEP 5.0 6.5 NORTHWEST 30 MPH SEP 10
OCT 7.1 6.6 EAST 45 MPH OCT 3
NOV 7.8 8.6 SOUTH 39 MPH NOV 19
DEC 7.8 9.6 SOUTHWEST 48 MPH DEC 17
2012 6.8 MPH 8.0 SOUTH 48 MPH ON MAR 12
AND SOUTHWEST 48 MPH ON DEC 17
HIGHEST PRESSURE RECORDED IN 2012... 30.63 ON JAN 27
LOWEST PRESSURE RECORDED IN 2012... 29.14 ON DEC 16
==============================================================
2012 KEY RIVER STAGE DATA...
LOWEST HIGHEST
WILLAMETTE AT PORTLAND.... -0.1 FT OCT 8 16.3 FT APR 2
COLUMBIA AT VANCOUVER..... -0.2 FT OCT 8 15.8 FT APR 2
TUALATIN AT WEST LYNN..... 2.8 FT AUG 16 10.5 FT MAR 21
==============================================================
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1940 TO 2012
$$
DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY
- National Weather Service
- Aberdeen, SD Weather Forecast Office
- 824 Brown County 14 South
- Aberdeen, SD 57401-9311
- 605-225-0519
- Page Author: ABR Webmaster
- Web Master's E-mail: w-abr.webmaster@noaa.gov
- Page last modified: May 1st, 2013 15:31 UTC