Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
000 CXUS56 KPQR 011953 CLAEUG ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 1152 AM PST FRI 1 JAN 2021 ...EUGENE 2020 WEATHER IN REVIEW... =============================================================== 2020 NOTABLE RECORDS AND WEATHER EVENTS... *** 10TH WARMEST YEAR (PERIOD 1893-2020) *** *** 2ND WARMEST JANUARY *** 9TH DRIEST FEBRUARY *** DAMAGING THUNDERSTORMS IN EARLY MAY *** DRY AND WARM SUMMER (8TH WARMEST) *** SEPTEMBER WILDFIRES, SMOKE AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARIES... JANUARY...2020 STARTED WET AND MILD. NORMALLY, EUGENE WOULD SEE 12 NIGHTS AT/OR BELOW FREEZING. BUT, ONLY 3 SUCH DAYS THIS YEAR (14TH TO 17TH). DURING THAT TIME, LIGHT SNOW FELL IN/AND AROUND THE EUGENE AREA, BUT LESS THAN AN INCH OF ACCUMULATION. ON THE 15TH, A STRONG FRONT PUSHED MILD AIR BACK INTO THE REGION, WITH SOUTH WINDS GUSTING UP TO 50 MPH. ANOTHER STRONG FRONT ON THE 23RD TO 24TH BROUGHT MORE RAIN AND BREEZY SOUTH WINDS. MEASUREABLE RAIN (AT LEAST 0.01 INCH) FELL ON 26 DAYS. THIS WAS THE MOST FOR A JANUARY SINCE JAN 1953, WHICH ALSO SAW 26 RAINY DAYS. OVERALL, THE MILD TEMPERATURES RESULTED IN MAKING JANUARY 2020 THE 2ND WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD, WITH A MEAN TEMPERATURE OF 46.5 DEG (RECORD WAS 46.9 IN JAN 1953). FEBRUARY...A STRONG FRONT ON THE 1ST BROUGHT COOLER AIR INTO THE REGION FOR THE 2ND THROUGH THE 4TH. OVERNIGHT LOWS DROPPED INTO THE MIDDLE 20S. IN ADDITION, THERE WAS LIGHT SNOW AT TIMES ON THE 3RD, BUT MOST AREAS AROUND TOWN SAW A DUSTING TO A HALF INCH OF SNOW. AFTER THE 16TH, HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION KEPT THE EUGENE AREA MOSTLY DRY WITH LATE NIGHT/MORNING FOG. TOTAL RAINFALL FROM 16TH TO THE 29TH WAS ONLY 0.26 INCH, FAR BELOW NORMAL. THIS CONTRIBUTED TO MAKING FEB 2020 THE 9TH DRIEST FEBRUARY, WITH TOTAL RAINFALL ONLY ABOUT 25% OF NORMAL. MARCH...RATHER TYPICAL MARCH, WITH MIX OF CLOUDS, RAIN, SUNSHINE, AND SHOWERS. BUT, EVEN WITH THAT, THERE WAS A TOUCH OF SNOW WITH ONE OF THE COLD FRONTS FROM 13TH INTO THE 14TH. BUT, THERE WAS LITTLE IF ANY SNOW ACCUMULATION. BUT, AREAS TO THE NORTH TOWARDS CORVALLIS AND ALBANY GOT 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW. AFTERWARDS, DRY AND MILDER WEATHER SET IN FOR A TIME, WITH HIGHS WELL INTO THE 60S. BUT, AS IT MARCH, THIS WOULD NOT LAST, AS RAIN AND COOLER TEMPERATURES RETURNED FOR THE LAST WEEK OF MARCH. APRIL...OVERALL, IT WAS A RATHER BENIGN WEATHER MONTH FOR THE SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY. THOUGH IT STARTED A BIT COOL WITH SHOWERS. SHOWERS ON THE 5TH PRODUCED SMALL HAIL, WITH A DIME-SIZED HAIL REPORTED NEAR MARCOLA. MILDER TEMPERATURES DOMINATED THE MONTH AFTER THE 8TH, WITH HIGHS MOSTLY 65 TO 75. LITTLE IF ANY RAIN FELL FROM THE 7TH TO THE 21ST. BUT DID SEE 0.50 TO 0.75 INCH WITH A STRONG FRONT ON THE 22ND. BUT, APRIL ENDED WITH ABOUT HALF THE NORMAL RAINFALL. MAY...LIKE MAY 2019, THIS MAY WAS A MONTH FOR GARDENERS. MAY STARTED MILD AND SOMEWHAT WET. THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 2ND BROUGHT GUSTY WINDS, ENOUGH TO BREAK TREE BRANCHES AND DOWNED A FEW TREES ACROSS THE REGION, WITH SPOTTY POWER OUTAGES REPORTED FROM EUGENE EASTWARD TO LEABURG. BY THE 4TH, TEMPERATURES WARMED INTO THE 70S, AND INTO THE LOWER 80S FOR THE MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND. AFTERWARDS, IT WAS BACK TO UNSETTLED WEATHER, WITH RAIN AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. ANOTHER WARM SPELL ARRIVED FOR THE 26TH TO 29TH, WITH HIGHS WELL INTO THE 80S, WARMEST ON THE 28TH. A COLD FRONT SWEPT ACROSS REGION ON 30TH, WITH SHOWERS AND EVEN A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. THE STREAK OF MONTHS WITH BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL ENDS AT 7 (OCT 2019 TO APR 2020), AS MAY FINISHED WITH JUST A TAD ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL. JUNE...LIKE MAY, JUNE WAS ANOTHER RATHER PLEASANT MONTH, WITH NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL. MOST OF THE RAIN FELL FROM THE 6TH 16TH. DURING THAT TIME, SEVERAL FRONTS PUSHED ACROSS AREA WITH ALTERNATING RAIN AND SHOWERS. THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 6TH BROUGHT SMALL HAIL IN SPOTS, ALONG WITH A WELL-DEFINED FUNNEL CLOUD JUST SOUTHEAST OF HARRISBURG. THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 16TH ALSO PRODUCED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR ALBANY. JULY...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION MAINTAINED WARM DAYS AND MILD NIGHTS, ALONG WITH DRY WEATHER. THE ONLY RAIN WAS A TRACE ON THE 3RD, COMING FROM A BRIEF SPOT OF DRIZZLE. WARMEST DAY OF JULY WAS THE 27TH, WITH HIGHS OF 98 TO 101 ACROSS THE EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD AREA. AUGUST...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION MAINTAINED WARM DAYS AND MILD NIGHTS, ALONG WITH DRY WEATHER. TOTAL AUGUST RAINFALL WAS ONLY 0.05 INCH, BUT FELL ON ONLY 2 DAYS, THE 6TH AND 21ST. WARMEST DAY OF AUGUST, AND FOR THE WHOLE YEAR OF 2020 WAS ON THE 15TH, WITH A HIGH OF 101 DEG. OVERALL, IT WAS THE 8TH WARMEST JULY/AUGUST COMBO ON RECORD. SEPTEMBER...THE MONTH STARTED WARM AND DRY, WITH HIGHS IN 90S. AN ABNORMALLY STRONG UPPER LOW DROPPED SOUTH FROM CANADA INTO ROCKIES ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND, WITH SNOW IN THE ROCKIES. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE FOLLOWED THAT LOW BROUGHT STRONG DRY OFFSHORE FLOW TO THE PACIFIC NW. EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH, WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH WERE FELT ACROSS THE SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY ON THE 7TH AND 8TH. WINDS BROKE TREE BRANCHES AND CAUSED SPOTTY POWER OUTAGES. BUT, WITH WINDS WERE MUCH STRONGER OVER THE CASCADES. THAT DOWNED POWERLINES, SPARKING WILDFIRES WITH THE VERY DRY CONDITIONS. THESE FIRES BURNED INTENSELY, WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF SMOKE LOFTED AND SPREADING OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. AIR QUALITY PLUMMETED, WITH SMOKE COVER SKIES FROM THE 7TH THROUGH THE 18TH. THIS SMOKE KEPT DAY TEMPERATURES DOWN, AND OVERNIGHT LOWS MILD. IT ALSO MADE FOR MANY DAYS OF QUITE UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ROLLED NORTHWARD ACROSS THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY AND CASCADES ON THE 17TH INTO THE 18TH. THESE STORMS PRODUCED VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND GUSTY WINDS, ALONG WITH SOME HAIL. MANY SPOTS IN AND AROUND IN AND AROUND EUGENE PICKED UP 0.75 TO 1.25 INCHES OF RAIN WITHIN 30 MINUTES WITH THE HEAVIER STORMS. ONE STORM THAT DEVELOPED OVER THE COBURG HILLS PUSHED NORTH QUICKLY, BRINGING HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL TO THE LEBANON AREA, ALONG WITH STRONG DAMAGING WINDS. AFTERWARDS, WEATHER PATTERN CHANGED, WITH MORE ONSHORE FLOW AND SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. THIS ALLOWED SMOKE TO BE SHUNTED BACK TO THE EAST, WITH IMPROVING AIR QUALITY. A STRONG FRONT ARRIVED ON THE 23RD, BRINGING MORE RAIN. OCTOBER...AFTER A MILD AND DRY START, THE TRANSITION FROM LATE SUMMER-LIKE WEATHER TO AUTUMN BEGAN IN EARNEST BY THE 10TH. A SERIES OF FRONTS ARRIVED, WITH A RAINY STRETCH FROM THE 10TH TO THE 13TH. THEN, IT TURNED MOSTLY DRY THROUGH REST OF THE MONTH, WITH 0.01 INCH OF RAIN FALLING ON THE 24TH. THIS DUE TO STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION, WITH DID BRING QUITE A BIT OF LATE NIGHT AND MORNING FOG. CHILLY AIR SETTLED OVER REGION LATER IN THE MONTH, WITH AUTUMN`S FIRST FREEZE ON 22ND. BUT, WAS EVEN COLDER ON THE 26TH, AS OVERNIGHT LOWS FELL TO 23 DEG. THIS LOW OF 23 IS THE 4TH COLDEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN EUGENE IN MONTH OF OCT (DATING BACK TO 1892). ALSO, THE LOW OF 23 DEG ON THE 26TH IS THE EARLIEST IT HAS BEEN THAT COLD IN THE AUTUMN. RUNNER UP IS OCTOBER 1949, WITH A LOW OF 24 DEG ON 20TH. NOVEMBER...BIT WARMER AND DRIER THAN NORMALLY EXPECTED FOR A NOVEMBER. OVERALL, WEATHER REMAINED RATHER BENIGN, WITH RAIN AT TIMES AND MILD TEMPERATURES. STRONGEST FRONT OF THE MONTH PUSHED ACROSS REGION ON THE 17TH AND 18TH, WITH HEAVY RAIN AND SOUTH WINDS GUSTING UP TO 40 MPH. THU DECEMBER...DECEMBER STARTED ON A DRY NOTE. BUT, THEN THE RAIN RETURNED, WITH RAIN NEARLY EVERY DAY FROM THE 5TH TO THE 22ND. AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER PUSHED OVER THE REGION ON THE 20TH, BRINGING HEAVY RAIN. MOST AREAS IN AND AROUND EUGENE RECEIVED 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN. SMALLER STREAMS RAN FULL, BUT MOST LOCAL RIVERS STAYED BELOW FLOOD STAGE. MILD WEATHER CONTINUED THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. ============================================================= NEW RECORDS SET IN 2020 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES) + INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES JANUARY... 3RD NEW. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 61 ( 60 /1994+) 23RD NEW. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 51 ( 49 /1975 ) *** 2ND WARMEST JANUARY (MEAN TEMPERATURE 46.5 DEG) JUNE... 20TH NEW. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 61 ( 59 /1921 ) AUGUST... 15TH NEW. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 101 ( 99 /1967 ) 16TH NEW. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 64 ( 62 /2008 ) SEPTEMBER... 18TH NEW. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 59 ( 57 /2011+) 18TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 1.14" (0.86"/2019 ) 23RD NEW. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 58 ( 57 /1915 ) OCTOBER... 26TH NEW. DAILY COLD LOW TEMP 23 ( 26 /1954 ) 27TH TIED. DAILY COLD LOW TEMP 26 ( 26 /1948 ) NOVEMBER... 4TH TIED. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 54 ( 54 /2012+) 9TH TIED. DAILY COLD LOW TEMP 24 ( 24 /1982+) DECEMBER... 8TH TIED. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 62 ( 62 /2015+) =============================================================== 2020 EUGENE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RANKINGS THIS SHOWS WHERE A MONTH/YEAR RANKS IN PERIOD OF RECORD (1892 TO 2020). RANKINGS ONLY APPLY TO ALL OF THE SAME MONTH, IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE JAN 2020 COMPARES TO ALL OTHER JANUARYS. RANKINGS 1 TO 129, WHERE 1 IS THE RECORD WARMEST OR WETTEST, AND 129 IS THE RECORD DRIEST OR COLDEST. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2020 AVG T 2 73 77 14 25 29 17 11 9 45 72 29 10 PRECIP 57 120 88 104 38 39 110 85 18 106 73 62 99 MAX T 4 46 56 14 34 53 25 8 30 28 42 14 7 MIN T 1 94 102 37 17 15 19 28 7 67 87 59 15 =============================================================== 2020 EUGENE AIRPORT TEMPERATURE DATA (+ BY DATE INDICATES LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES LISTED) |--- AVERAGES ----| MEAN T DEPART| EXTREME TEMPS & DATE| MONTH |HIGHS LOWS MEAN| FROM NORMAL | HIGHEST LOWEST | --------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 51.9 41.2 46.5 +5.8 DEG 65 /31ST 29 /15TH FEB 51.6 33.3 42.5 -0.4 DEG 59 /27TH 25 /19TH MAR 55.8 35.0 45.4 -1.3 DEG 69 /22ND 28 /10TH APR 65.1 40.8 53.0 +2.8 DEG 75 /28TH 30 / 3RD MAY 69.4 46.0 57.7 +2.4 DEG 87 /28TH 35 / 4TH JUN 74.2 50.3 62.3 +1.9 DEG 92 /23RD 41 / 2ND JUL 84.8 53.3 69.1 +2.3 DEG 99 /27TH 49 /25TH AUG 86.2 52.5 69.4 +2.5 DEG 101 /15TH 44 / 7TH SEP 78.1 51.4 64.8 +2.9 DEG 95 / 3RD+ 44 /28TH+ OCT 66.3 42.1 54.2 +1.5 DEG 85 / 2ND 23 /26TH NOV 54.2 36.5 45.4 +0.5 DEG 73 / 4TH 24 / 9TH DEC 49.7 35.6 42.7 +3.0 DEG 62 / 8TH 25 /29TH 2020 65.6 43.2 54.4 +1.9 DEG 101/AUG 15 23/OCT 26 NORMAL 63.3 41.6 52.5 DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES IN 2020 WHERE... |------ MAXIMUM TEMP --------||------ MINIMUM TEMP ---| <=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+ -------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 FEB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 MAR 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 APR 0 25 8 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 MAY 0 30 14 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 JUN 0 30 22 7 2 0 0 0 1 0 JUL 0 31 30 22 10 0 0 0 1 0 AUG 0 31 31 29 6 1 0 0 4 0 SEP 0 30 25 11 4 0 0 0 1 0 OCT 0 25 11 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 NOV 0 7 1 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 DEC 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 2020 0 222 142 76 22 1 0 61 7 0 NORMAL 2 195 123 58 14 1 3 51 2 0 FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2020 NORMAL LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING 14 APR (20 APR) FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR 9 APR (30 MAR) FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR 8 MAY (15 MAY) FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR 23 JUN (25 JUN) LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR 7 SEP (11 SEP) LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR 2 OCT (29 SEP) LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR 4 NOV (21 OCT) FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL 22 OCT (20 OCT) ============================================================== 2020 EUGENE AIRPORT 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 6.59 -0.28 26 17 3 0 1.03 JAN 11-12 FEB 1.48 -3.95 9 6 1 0 0.90 FEB 15-16 MAR 3.00 -1.99 13 10 2 0 0.82 MAR 30-31 APR 1.46 -1.87 10 4 1 0 0.64 APR 22 MAY 2.98 +0.24 16 9 1 0 0.64 MAY 13-14 JUN 1.69 +0.19 11 5 1 0 0.73 JUN 16 JUL T -0.54 0 0 0 0 TRACE JUL 3 AUG 0.05 -0.56 2 0 0 0 0.04 AUG 6 SEP 2.75 +1.46 6 6 2 1 2.08 SEP 17-18 OCT 1.38 -1.87 5 3 1 0 0.70 OCT 10-11 NOV 5.47 -2.25 19 12 4 2 1.29 NOV 18-19 DEC 6.45 -1.38 20 11 5 1 2.51 DEC 19-20 2020 33.30 -12.80 137 83 21 4 2.51 DEC 19-20 NORMAL 46.10 144 93 30 10 EUGENE WATER YEAR 2019-20 (1 OCT 2019 THROUGH 30 SEP 2020) 27.81 INCHES 18.29 INCHES BELOW NORMAL TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR 2020... TRACE (NORMAL: 6.0") ============================================================ 2020 EUGENE AIRPORT WIND AND PRESSURE DATA... AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST MONTH 2020 NORMAL DIRECTION SPEED DATE ---------------------------------------------------------- JAN 9.2 (6.8) SOUTHWEST 47 MPH JAN 15 FEB 6.0 (7.1) SOUTHWEST 32 MPH FEB 29 MAR 6.7 (7.4) NORTH 33 MPH MAR 16 APR 6.0 (7.1) SOUTH 31 MPH APR 5 MAY 6.3 (6.6) WEST 37 MPH MAY 2 JUN 6.5 (7.0) SOUTHWEST 32 MPH JUN 6 JUL 6.3 (7.5) NORTH 32 MPH JUL 14+ AUG 7.6 (7.1) NORTH 32 MPH AUG 27 SEP 6.0 (6.8) SOUTHWEST 43 MPH SEP 23 OCT 5.8 (6.4) NORTH 35 MPH OCT 25 NOV 6.6 (7.0) SOUTH 38 MPH NOV 17 DEC 6.4 (7.1) SOUTHWEST 37 MPH DEC 21 2020 6.7 (7.0) SOUTHWEST 47 MPH JAN 15 2020 BAROMETRIC PRESSURE EXTREMES... HIGHEST PRESSURE30.66 INCHES 24 FEB LOWEST PRESSURE 29.43 INCHES 17 NOV ============================================================== 2020 MAJOR RIVER EXTREMES WILLAMETE RIVER (NEAR EWEB BUILDING, DOWNTOWN EUGENE)... HIGHEST 16.5 FT 29 JAN (FLOOD STAGE IS 23.0 FT) LOWEST 9.5 FT 5 NOV WILLAMETE RIVER (AT HARRISBURG)... HIGHEST 12.0 FT 21 DEC (FLOOD STAGE IS 14.0 FT) LOWEST 2.1 FT 5 NOV MOHAWK RIVER (AT HILL RD, NORTH OF SPRINGFIELD)... HIGHEST 13.3 FT 21 DEC (FLOOD STAGE IS 15.0 FT) LOWEST 0.8 FT 8 SEP ============================================================= EUGENE AIRPORT CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS... 1892 TO 2020 EUGENE AIRPORT CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON... 1981 TO 2010 ============================================================= DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON ONLINE AT: WEATHER.GOV/PORTLAND $$