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Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
000
CXUS56 KPQR 111841
CLASLE
ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
1030 AM PST FRI JAN 11 2013
...SALEM 2012 WEATHER YEAR IN REVIEW...
JANUARY...JANUARY HAD A LITTLE TO OFFER FOR EVERYONE. THE MONTH
STARTED AND ENDED MILD...WITH SNOW AND RAIN IN BETWEEN. THE MOST
MEMORABLE SNOW FELL ON SUNDAY...JANUARY 15TH. WHILE 2 TO 5 INCHES
OF SNOW FELL ACROSS THE SALEM AREA...THE SOUTH HILLS HAD THE JACKPOT
OF 6 TO 10 INCHES. THEN CAME THE WARM AIR. ON THE 17TH...THE FIRST
DAY OF HEAVY RAIN ARRIVED...WITH 2.18 INCHES OF RAIN. ANOTHER 5 TO
6 INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON THE 18TH AND 19TH. THIS WAS THE 7TH WETTEST
3-DAY RAIN EVENT IN SALEM SINCE 1892. SALEM HAD 11.29 INCHES OF RAIN
IN JANUARY...MAKING JANUARY 2012 THE 7TH WETTEST ON RECORD.
FEBRUARY...RATHER BENIGN MONTH...AS TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL WERE
NEAR NORMAL.
MARCH...IT WAS A VERY ACTIVE MONTH...WITH PRECIPITATION WELL ABOVE
NORMAL AND TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW NORMAL. A STRONG FRONT ON THE
12TH BROUGHT OVER AN INCH OF RAIN...AND SOUTH WINDS THAT GUSTED OVER
50 MPH. SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EVENTS CONTRIBUTED TO A MONTHLY
TOTAL OF 7.89 WHICH MADE FOR THE SECOND WETTEST MARCH SINCE 1892.
APRIL...AN UNEVENTFUL MONTH WITH RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES WERE NEAR
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
AST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS BACK IN 2001.
MAY...A CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMAL MAY. LIKE APRIL...IT WAS THE FIRST MAY
WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S...WHICH LAST HAPPENED IN 2009. MEMORIAL
DAY WEEKEND WAS COOL...WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S. BUT IT WAS DRY.
JUNE...LIKE MAY...RATHER NORMAL AND BENIGN MONTH.
JULY...AFTER A WET SPRING...JULY STARTED THE SUMMER OFF ON A DRY NOTE.
MONTHLY RAINFALL WAS ABOUT 25 PERCENT OF NORMAL. DESPITE 18 DAYS WITH
HIGHS IN THE 80S...IT WAS NOT ALL THAT HOT. HIGHEST TEMPERATURE ONLY
REACHED 90 OR WARMER ONCE...AND THAT WAS ONLY 90 DEG ON AFTERNOON OF
THE 8TH. NORMALLY...SALEM HAS 5 DAYS OF 90 DEG OR WARMER.
AUGUST...AHH...SUMMER. AUGUST WAS A DRY AND WARM MONTH. 9 DAYS SAW
THE MERCURY CLIMB OVER 90 DEG. THIS WAS THE MOST DAYS SINCE AUGUST
2004. AND FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2009...TEMPERATURES FINALLY CLIMBED TO
AT LEAST 100 DEG...WITH A HIGH OF 103 ON THE AFTERNOON OF AUGUST 4TH.
IT WAS A DRY MONTH...WITH ONLY A TRACE OF RAIN. NOT SPECTACULAR... AS
MANY A AUGUST PASSES WITH ONLY A FEW DROPS OF RAIN.
SEPTEMBER...SOME SAY SEPTEMBER IS THE NEW AUGUST. COULD BE...AS WARM
DRY WEATHER CONTINUED. IT WAS THE TIED WITH 1991 AS THE 5TH DRIEST
SEPTEMBER SINCE 1892.
OCTOBER...BEAUTIFUL LATE SUMMER WEATHER CONTINUED INTO OCTOBER. AFTER
A WARM 84 DEG ON THE OCTOBER 1ST...TEMPERATURES REMAINED IN THE 70S
FOR THE FIRST 9 DAYS OF 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 ALMOST AN INCH OF
RAIN RECORDED. RAIN FELL ON ALL BUT ONE DAY FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH.
THIS PUSHED OCTOBER 2012 RAINFALL TO ALMOST 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. A STRONG
FRONT ON THE 18TH INTO THE 20TH BROUGHT 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN AND
GUSTY SOUTH WINDS TO THE SALEM AREA. AFTER THE 23RD...MORE TRANQUIL
WEATHER ARRIVED. THE FIRST TEMPERATURE OF 32 DEG OR COLDER CAME ON
THE MORNING OF THE 25TH...NEARLY A MONTH LATER THAN THE NORMAL
FIRST OCCURRENCE.
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 THROUGH THE 19TH...
RESULTING IN SOME TREE DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES ACROSS THE CENTRAL
WILLAMETTE VALLEY. A PEAK WIND GUST OF 49 MPH WAS RECORDED AT THE
SALEM AIRPORT ON THE 19TH. LATER DECEMBER BROUGHT SOMEWHAT MORE
TRANQUIL AND MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES.
================================================================
RECORDS SET IN 2012 (PERIOD OF RECORD IS 1892 TO 2012)...
(PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES)
JANUARY....
19TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 51 DEG (48/1972,1970)
7TH WETTEST JANUARY ON RECORD
FEBRUARY...
NONE.
MARCH...
21ST RECORD COOL AFTERNOON HIGH TEMP 36 DEG (42/1904)
2ND WETTEST MARCH ON RECORD
APRIL
22ND TIED RECORD DAILY HIGH TEMP 80 DEG (1982,1910)
23RD RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 52 DEG (50/1996)
25TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 51 DEG (1978,1909,1905)
MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER...
NONE.
OCTOBER...
12TH RECORD DAILY TOTAL RAINFALL 0.96 IN (0.71/1962)
15TH TIED RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW 59 DEG (1988)
28TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 59 DEG (55/1931)
29TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 59 DEG (54/1907)
30TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 57 DEG (55/2009)
NOVEMBER...
28TH RECORD WARM OVERNIGHT LOW TEMP 57 DEG (55/2006)
DECEMBER...
NONE.
2012 IS THE 4TH WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD WITH 55.37 INCHES OF RAIN.
(WETTEST IS 1996 WITH 66.96 INCHES OF RAIN IN 1996).
================================================================
2012 MEAN TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL RANKINGS...
(1 IS THE WARMEST OR WETTEST...AND 121 IS THE COLDEST OR DRIEST)
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
TEMP 33 61 102 39 61 94 58 11 18 25 22 39
RAIN 7 64 2 39 42 23 78 113 117 13 23 45
SEASON TEMPERATURE RAINFALL DATES USED
WINTER 2011-12 72 63 22 DEC-21 MAR
SPRING 2012 80 21 22 MAR-21 JUN
SUMMER 2012 23 110 22 JUN-21 SEP
DEEP SUMMER 2012 19 118 5 JUL-31 AUG
EARLY AUTUMN 2012 11 65 1 SEP-15 OCT
AUTUMN 8 54 22 SEP-21 DEC
2012 YEAR 21 4 - - - -
================================================================
2012 TEMPERATURE DATA...
AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMP EXTREMES/ DATE
MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST LOWEST
================================================================
JAN 49.0 35.2 41.4 +0.9 60 ON 4TH 24 ON 28TH
FEB 50.7 34.7 42.7 -0.4 61 ON 6TH 27 ON 6TH
MAR 51.6 36.2 43.9 -3.0 65 ON 8TH 25 ON 7TH
APR 61.3 41.8 51.6 +1.2 82 ON 23RD 31 ON 6TH,7TH
MAY 67.5 44.0 55.8 -0.4 87 ON 13TH 32 ON 10TH
JUN 69.7 50.0 59.9 -1.7 86 ON 16TH 38 ON 10TH
JUL 79.7 54.0 66.9 -0.7 90 ON 8TH 46 ON 23RD
AUG 85.0 54.2 69.6 +2.0 103 ON 4TH 45 ON 24TH
SEP 79.6 48.7 64.2 +1.6 95 ON 7TH 42 ON 30TH
OCT 65.3 44.9 55.1 +1.9 84 ON 1ST 35 ON 25TH
NOV 54.0 41.3 47.7 +2.2 73 ON 4TH 27 ON 26TH
DEC 47.2 37.3 42.2 +2.1 58 ON 4TH 26 ON 30TH
2012 63.4 43.5 53.5 +0.4 103 ON AUG 4 24 ON JAN 28
NORMAL 63.6 42.5 53.1 <-------- 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 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0
FEB 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0
MAR 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0
APR 0 17 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
MAY 0 24 12 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
JUN 0 29 12 3 0 0 0 0 2 0
JUL 0 31 29 18 1 0 0 0 2 0
AUG 0 31 31 22 9 1 0 0 4 0
SEP 0 30 29 14 2 0 0 0 0 0
OCT 0 22 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOV 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
2012 0 196 120 63 12 0 0 50 8 0
NORMAL <1 197 124 58 15 - 4 55 4 0
FIRST AND LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2012 NORMALLY
LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING... MAY 10 APR 18
FIRST 70+ DEG IN SPRING... APR 8 APR 4
FIRST 80+ DEG IN SPRING/SUMMER... APR 22 MAY 12
FIRST 90+ DEG IN SPRING/SUMMER ... JUL 8 JUN 12
LAST 90+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... SEP 13 SEP 6
LAST 80+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... OCT 1 SEP 29
LAST 70+ DEG IN LATE SUMMER/FALL... NOV 4 OCT 18
FIRST 32 DEGREES OR LOWER IN FALL... NOV 25 OCT 27
================================================================
2012 RAINFALL DATA...
TOTAL DEPARTURE DAYS WITH AT LEAST... GREATEST IN
MONTH RAIN FM NORMAL 0.01 0.10 0.50 1.00 24HRS & DATE
===========================================================
JAN 11.29 +5.33 21 14 7 3 3.30 /JAN 18-19
FEB 4.14 -0.42 20 14 2 1 1.07 /FEB 28-29
MAR 9.98 +5.99 22 16 8 3 1.71 /MAR 12-13
APR 3.08 +0.27 18 14 0 0 0.49 /APR 15-16
MAY 2.31 +0.09 10 7 2 0 0.71 /MAY 2-3
JUN 2.20 +0.65 13 8 0 0 0.48 /JUN 7-8
JUL 0.07 -0.39 3 0 0 0 0.04 /JUL 1
AUG TRACE -0.45 0 0 0 0 TRACE/AUG 27,28
SEP 0.04 -1.24 3 0 0 0 0.02 /SEP 10
OCT 5.94 +2.91 18 13 4 1 1.25 /OCT 28-29
NOV 8.92 +2.92 20 15 8 3 2.47 /NOV 19-20
DEC 7.40 +0.54 25 15 7 1 1.21 /DEC 3-4
2012 54.40 +14.73 172 116 38 12 3.30 ON JAN 18-19
NORMAL 39.67 N/A 142 95 22 4 - - -
WATER YEAR 2011-12 TOTAL (OCT 1 2011 THROUGH SEP 30 2012)
44.54 INCHES 4.87 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
============================================================
2012 WIND AND PRESSURE DATA...
MEAN CLIMATE NORMAL STRONGEST PEAK WIND
MONTH SPEED MEAN SPEED (SPEED, DIR AND DATE)
==============================================================
JAN 7.1 MPH 7.6 MPH SOUTH 47 MPH JAN 22
FEB 6.2 7.5 SOUTHEAST 39 MPH FEB 28
MAR 8.6 7.7 SOUTH 56 MPH MAR 12
APR 5.9 7.6 SOUTH 36 MPH APR 1
MAY 5.5 7.2 SOUTHWEST 40 MPH MAY 3
JUN 5.2 7.5 WEST 32 MPH JUN 4
JUL 4.7 8.0 EAST 28 MPH JUL 24
AUG 5.6 7.7 NORTH 29 MPH AUG 24
SEP 4.1 7.4 NORTH 36 MPH SEP 3
OCT 6.5 6.7 SOUTHEAST 32 MPH OCT 18
NOV 6.0 7.6 SOUTH 44 MPH NOV 18
DEC 7.7 7.9 SOUTH 49 MPH DEC 19
2012 5.3 MPH 7.5 WEST 58 MPH ON MARCH 25
HIGHEST PRESSURE RECORDED IN 2012... 30.61 ON JAN 27
LOWEST PRESSURE RECORDED IN 2012... 29.14 ON DEC 16
==============================================================
2012 KEY RIVER STAGE DATA...
LOWEST HIGHEST
WILLAMETTE AT SALEM 5.4 FT ON AUG 24 29.4 FT ON JAN 20
==============================================================
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1892 TO 2012
$$
DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY
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