Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
Issued by NWS Portland, OR
000 CXUS56 KPQR 011320 CLASLE ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT ANATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 519 AM PST WED JAN 1 2020 ...SALEM 2019 WEATHER IN REVIEW... ================================================================ 2019 MONTHLY WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS... JANUARY...JANUARY WAS FOR THE MOST PART A RATHER MILD MONTH, WITH AVERAGE TEMPERATURES BEING A BIT ABOVE NORMAL. A STRONG FRONT BROUGHT RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS ON THE 4TH AND 5TH, WITH SOUTH WIND GUSTING TO 54 MPH AT THE AIRPORT. A FEW MORE STRONG FRONTS PUSHED ACROSS REGION ON THE 17TH/18TH AND AGAIN ON 22ND/23RD, EACH BRINGING RAIN AND WINDS GUSTING UP TO 40 MPH. DESPITE RAIN FALLING ON NEARLY HALF OF THE DAYS, TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS ABOUT HALF OF WHAT IS NORMALLY EXPECTED. FEBRUARY...OLD MAN WINTER SHOWED UP DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE MONTH, WITH SNOW AND COLD TEMPERATURES. SNOW, SLEET AND EVEN LIGHT FREEZING RAIN FELL ON THE 3RD TO 5TH, WITH GENERALLY 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS SALEM AREA. ANOTHER SYSTEM ARRIVED ON 8TH AND 9TH, BRINGING ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW. BUT, MAIN STORY WAS THE ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL, AS FEB 2019 WAS THE FIRST MONTH OF 2018-19 WINTER WITH ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL. AFTER A MILD START, IT WAS A CHILLY FEBRUARY, WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS DROPPING INTO THE 20S FROM 5TH TO 10TH, AND AGAIN DURING LATER PART OF THE MONTH. OVERALL, IT WAS THE 7TH COLDEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD FOR SALEM. MARCH...RATHER UNEVENTFUL MARCH, WITH SLIGHLY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES ABOUT HALF THE NORMAL RAINFALL. COOLER WEATHER ON THE 6TH TO 8TH MAINTAINED LOW SNOW LEVELS. WITH SHOWERS DURING THAT TIME, DID SEE MINOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ON THE HIGHER HILLS AROUND TOWN, AND EVEN SOME FLAKES REPORTED AT THE AIRPORT. BUT, NO ACCUMULATIONS AT LOWEST ELEVATIONS. HIGH PRESSURE EAST OF THE CASCADES BROUGHT OFFSHORE WINDS, AND MILD DAYS AND COOL NIGHTS FROM 15TH TO THE 20TH. AFTER CHILLY STARTS WITH MORNING TEMPERATURES IN THE 30S, DID SEE MILD DAYS WITH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WELL INTO THE 60S AND TO MIDDLE 70S. IN FACT, HIGHS FROM 17TH TO 20TH WERE IN THE 70S, TYING MANY OTHER YEARS (LAST BEING 1994) AS 3RD MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS IN MARCH WITH HIGHS OF AT LEAST 70 DEG (RECORD IS 6 DAYS IN 2005). DURING THOSE WARM DAYS, EAST WINDS BROUGHT VERY LOW HUMIDITY TO THE CASCADES FOOTHILLS, ENOUGH THAT SOME WILDFIRES BROKE OUT. ONE FIRE NEAR LYONS AND MILL CITY BURNED 60 ACRES, AND FORCED EVACUATIONS NEAR SANTIAM PARK ON THE 19TH. AFTER THE 20TH, IT WAS BACK TO TYPICAL CONDITIONS FOR LATE MARCH. APRIL...RAIN WAS RECORDED ON FIRST 16 DAYS OF APRIL, AND 18 OF THE FIRST 20 DAYS. HEAVIEST RAIN OCCURRED ON THE 6TH AND 7TH, WITH OVER AN INCH OF RAIN ON EACH OF THOSE DAYS. THIS RAINY PERIOD ENSURED APRIL WOULD END WITH ABOUT TWICE THE NORMAL APRIL PRECIPITATION. AFTER THE 20TH, DRY WEATHER AND MILD TEMPERATURES DOMINATED. INTERESTINGLY, WITH ALL OF THE CLOUDY AND RAINY CONDITIONS TO START THE MONTH, DAILY HIGHS WERE COOLER THAN NORMAL WHILE OVERNIGHT LOWS WERE A LOT WARMER. AS A RESULT, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WERE A BIT ABOVE NORMAL, AGAIN DUE TO MILDER NIGHTS. MAY...TO THE DELIGHT OF GARDENERS, MAY BROUGHT WARM DAYS AND A LOT OF DRY DAYS. MOST ACTIVE WEATHER OCCURRED FROM 17TH TO 19TH, DURING WHICH SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED FUNNEL CLOUDS AROUND TANGENT AND TO SOUTH OF ALBANY, BUT NO DAMAGE WAS REPORTED. MAY ENDED LIKE IT STARTED...DRY AND MILD. JUNE...A QUITE PLEASANT, BUT UNEVENTFUL JUNE. MAJORITY OF THE RAIN FOR THE MONTH FELL ON THE 27TH. WITH THE DRY WEATHER, TEMPERATURES WARMED INTO THE 80S AND EVEN 90S AT TIMES, WITH HOTTEST DAY BEING ON THE 12TH WITH A HIGH OF 97 DEG. JULY...GREAT SUMMER MONTH FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, WITH WARM AND DRY DAYS. LIKE JUNE, THE MAJORITY OF RAIN FELL ON ONLY A FEW DAYS. FOR JULY, 80 PERCENT OF THE MONTHS RAIN FELL ON 9TH INTO THE 10TH. WARMEST DAY OF JULY WAS ONLY 93 DEG. AUGUST...NEARLY A CARBON COPY OF JULY, AS CONTINUED ON MILD AND DRY SIDE. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WERE MOSTLY IN THE 80S TO LOWER 90S, BUT, DID SEE WARMEST DAY ON 27TH WHEN TEMPERATURES PEAKED AT 100 DEG. THEN, UPPER FLOW TURNED MORE SOUTHERLY, WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY ON THE 29TH DURING THE EVENING. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS PROVIDED SPECTACULAR LIGHTNING DISPLAYS, MAINLY FOR THOSE TO EAST AND NORTH OF SALEM. SEPTEMBER...SEPTEMBER OPENED ON THE WARM SIDE, WITH HIGHS IN 80S TO LOWER 90S. BUT, A STRONG FRONT ARRIVED ON THE 7TH, COOLING THE REGION. THOUGH THERE WERE SOME MILD DAYS, TEMPERATURES FOR REST OF THE MONTH STAYED IN THE 60S TO MIDDLE 70S. FOR MOST OF THE MONTH (AFTER THE 7TH), THE WEATHER PATTERN STAYED ACTIVE, WITH FRONTS BRINGING RAIN, INTERMIXED WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. TOTAL RAINFALL FOR SEPTEMBER WAS NEARLY TWICE THAT OF WHAT IS NORMALLY EXPECTED, WITH ALMOST 3 INCHES IN SALEM. OCTOBER...TYPICALLY, THE BIG TRANSITION FROM THE DRY MILD FALL WEATHER TO THE COOL WET WEATHER OCCURS AROUND THE 10TH. THIS OCTOBER WAS CLOSE TO THAT, AS COOLER TEMPS DOMINATED AFTER THE 8TH, WITH HIGHS MOSTLY IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S. BUT, RAIN WAS NOT AS PERSISTENT, WITH THE MOST RAINY PERIOD BEING FROM THE 16TH TO 22ND. THE DRY MILD DAYS AND COOL NIGHTS ALLOWED FOR IDEAL CURING OF TREE FOLIAGE, PROVIDING SOME SPECTACULAR AUTUMN COLORS. COLD HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES ALLOWED CHILLY AIR TO SETTLE INTO THE COLUMBIA BASIN TOWARDS END OF THE MONTH. THIS CHILLY AIR SEEPED WESTWARD, AND FILLED MOST AREAS WEST OF THE CASCADES BY THE 29TH. MANY AREAS IN THE OUTLYING AREAS HAD TEMPERATURES DROP INTO THE MIDDLE AND LOWER 20S, BUT, AIRPORT ONLY GOT DOWN TO 24 DEG ON HALLOWEEN, MAKING IT THE 3RD COLDEST START TO A HALLOWEEN (COLDEST WAS 21 DEG IN 2002). OVERALL, OCTOBER 2019 ENDED AS 3RD COLDEST ON RECORD, WITH ONLY OCTOBERS OF 1949 AND 1893 BEING TAD COLDER. NOVEMBER...A MILD MONTH, AS STORM TRACK WAS MOSTLY SHIFTED SOUTH OF THE REGION. THIS BROUGHT A LOT MORE IN WAY OF DRY DAYS, BUT ALSO LOT MORE IN WAY OF LATE NIGHT AND MORNING FOG. A FRONT ARRIVED ON 22ND AND 23RD, WITH RAIN AND MUCH COOLER AIR. A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR ARRIVED ON THE 28TH, WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS DROPPING INTO THE UPPER TEENS IN OUTLYING AREAS, BUT ONLY TO DOWN TO AROUND 20 FOR SALEM AIRPORT ON 29TH AND 30TH. A WEAK FRONT LIFTING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY ON THE 30TH PRODUCING LIGHT SNOW FOR A FEW HOURS. BUT, ONLY A DUSTING OR LESS WAS REPORTED BY MOST. IN THE END, NOVEMBER ENDED AS THE 3RD DRIEST ON RECORD WITH 0.80 INCH OF RAIN (ONLY 1929 AND 1936 HAS LESS RAINFALL). DECEMBER...A RATHER BENIGN AND QUIET FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH. BUT, THEN A RETURN TO CONDITIONS THAT RESEMBLED WEATHER MORE TYPICAL OF WINTER, WITH RAIN AND BREEZY CONDITIONS FROM TIME TO TIME. AOTHER BREEZY FRONT SWEPT ACROSS THE CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY ON THE 18 TO 19TH, WITH ANOTHER FRONT ON THE 21ST INTO THE 22ND. SOUTHERLY WINDS GUSTED UP TO 40 MPH, WHILE 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN WAS MEASURED AROUND THE SALEM AREA. OVERALL, DECEMBER ENDED MILDER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL. ============================================================== NEW RECORDS SET IN 2019 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES) + INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES JANUARY... 10TH TIED. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 60 ( 60 /1895 ) FEBRUARY... 11TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 1.15" (1.00"/1958 ) *** 7TH COLDEST FEB ON RECORD (AVG TEMP 38.4 DEG) MARCH... 18TH NEW. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 76 ( 74 /1939 ) 19TH NEW. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 77 ( 72 /1978 ) 20TH TIED. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 75 ( 75 /1915 ) APRIL... 6TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 1.21" (0.89"/1980 ) MAY... 9TH TIED. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 86 ( 86 /1987 ) 10TH TIED. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 87 ( 87 /1994 ) 18TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 0.64" (0.58"/1953 ) JUNE... 12TH TIED. DAILY WARM LOW TEMP 60 ( 60 /1941+) 12TH NEW. DAILY WARM HIGH TEMP 97 ( 93 /2002+) JULY... 9TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 0.29" (0.23"/1974 ) AUGUST... NO NEW RECORDS SET. SEPTEMBER... 10TH NEW. DAILY RAINFALL 0.96" (0.79"/2005 ) OCTOBER... *** 3RD COLDEST OCTOBER ON RECORD (AVG TEMP 49.3 DEG) NOVEMBER... *** 3RD DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD (ONLY 1929, 1936 DRIER) DECEMBER... NO NEW RECORDS SET. ============================================================== 2019 SALEM MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RANKINGS THIS SHOWS WHERE A MONTH/YEAR RANKS IN PERIOD OF RECORD (1892 TO 2019). RANKINGS ONLY APPLY TO ALL OF THE SAME MONTH, IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE JAN 2019 COMPARES TO ALL OTHER JANUARYS. RANKINGS 1 TO 128...WHERE 1 IS THE RECORD WARMEST OR WETTEST, AND 128 IS THE RECORD DRIEST OR COLDEST. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2019 AVG T 27 122 56 18 18 25 38 15 59 128 85 46 36 PRECIP 107 19 114 10 70 108 43 59 14 74 126 84 109 MAX T 15 122 33 58 25 28 83 45 108 113 55 53 61 MIN T 49 100 99 4 25 28 13 6 4 120 101 54 36 =============================================================== 2019 SALEM MCNARY 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 50.6 35.0 42.8 +1.6 DEG 60 /10TH 25 / 1ST FEB 44.0 32.8 38.4 -4.7 DEG 54 / 1ST 24 / 7TH MAR 57.7 34.8 46.3 -0.6 DEG 77 /19TH 25 / 5TH+ APR 61.5 44.3 52.9 +2.5 DEG 78 /18TH 32 /28TH MAY 71.1 46.8 59.0 +2.8 DEG 87 /10TH 36 / 1ST JUN 76.9 50.8 63.9 +2.3 DEG 97 /12TH 44 / 8TH JUL 80.4 55.7 68.1 +0.5 DEG 93 /26TH 48 /19TH AUG 83.3 56.2 69.8 +2.2 DEG 100 /27TH 50 /24TH SEP 71.7 52.8 62.2 -0.4 DEG 91 / 5TH 36 /30TH OCT 60.5 38.2 49.3 -3.9 DEG 71 / 7TH 24 /31ST NOV 53.2 35.1 44.2 -1.3 DEG 63 /11TH 20 /30TH+ DEC 47.4 36.6 42.0 +1.9 DEG 59 /20TH 25 /26TH+ 2019 63.3 43.3 53.3 +0.3 DEG 100/AUG 27 20/NOV 30 NORMAL 63.6 42.4 53.0 DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES IN 2019 WHERE... |------ MAXIMUM TEMP --------||------ MINIMUM TEMP ---| <=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+ -------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 FEB 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16 0 0 MAR 0 13 4 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 APR 0 18 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 MAY 0 30 17 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 JUN 0 30 24 11 2 0 0 0 1 0 JUL 0 31 30 17 2 0 0 0 3 0 AUG 0 31 31 22 5 1 0 0 5 0 SEP 0 29 17 7 1 0 0 0 3 0 OCT 0 16 1 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 NOV 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 12 0 0 DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 2019 0 205 126 62 10 1 2 68 12 0 NORMAL 1 197 124 59 15 1 3 50 4 0 FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2019 NORMAL LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING APR 28 (APR 19) FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAR 17 (MAR 31) FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 6 (MAY 9) FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR JUN 11 (JUN 3) LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 5 (SEP 8) LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 12 (SEP 30) LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 7 (OCT 20) FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL OCT 9 (OCT 24) ============================================================== 2019 SALEM MCNARY 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 2.93 -3.03 14 9 1 0 0.87 JAN 17-18 FEB 7.09 +2.53 23 17 5 1 1.32 FEB 10-11 MAR 1.67 -2.32 12 6 0 0 0.41 MAR 27 APR 5.14 +2.33 17 12 3 2 1.68 APR 6-7 MAY 1.72 -0.50 10 4 2 0 0.71 MAY 18-19 JUN 0.43 -1.12 5 1 0 0 0.35 JUN 26-27 JUL 0.42 -0.04 3 1 0 0 0.34 JUL 9-10 AUG 0.32 -0.13 5 1 0 0 0.17 AUG 29 SEP 2.97 +1.69 12 7 2 0 0.97 SEP 9-10 OCT 2.52 -0.51 11 6 2 0 0.68 OCT 18 NOV 0.80 -5.70 8 4 0 0 0.22 NOV 18-19 DEC 4.85 -2.01 18 11 3 1 1.16 DEC 21 2019 30.86 -8.81 138 79 18 4 1.68 APR 6-7 NORMAL 39.67 144 91 25 6 SALEM WATER YEAR 2018-19 (1 OCT 2018 THROUGH 30 SEP 2019) 34.56 INCHES 5.11 INCHES BELOW NORMAL TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR 2019... ESTIMATED 3.5" (NORMAL: 6.0") ============================================================ 2019 SALEM MCNARY AIRPORT WIND AND PRESSURE DATA... AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST MONTH 2019 NORMAL DIRECTION SPEED DATE ---------------------------------------------------------- JAN 5.8 (7.1) SOUTH 54 MPH JAN 5 FEB 7.2 (6.9) SOUTH 44 MPH FEB 11 MAR 5.4 (7.4) NORTHEAST 30 MPH MAR 18 APR 6.5 (6.9) SOUTH 33 MPH APR 7 MAY 5.4 (6.4) SOUTHWEST 29 MPH MAY 18 JUN 6.7 (6.5) SOUTHWEST 32 MPH JUN 26 JUL 5.8 (6.5) NORTHWEST 25 MPH JUL 24 AUG 5.6 (6.0) SOUTHWEST 28 MPH AUG 1 SEP 5.6 (5.5) SOUTH 45 MPH SEP 17 OCT 5.6 (5.7) SOUTH 39 MPH OCT 19 NOV 4.5 (7.1) NORTH 28 MPH NOV 28 DEC 4.8 (7.1) SOUTH 37 MPH DEC 20 2019 5.2 (6.6) SOUTH 54 MPH JAN 5 HIGHEST PRESSURE IN 2019...30.52 INCHES JAN 26 LOWEST PRESSURE IN 2019...29.09 INCHES FEB 14 ============================================================ 2019 SALEM WILLAMETTE RIVER DATA (AT DOWNTOWN)... (FLOOD STAGE IS 28.0 FT) HIGHEST LEVEL 27.3 FT 12 APR 2019 LOWEST LEVEL 5.1 FT 23 JUL 2019 ============================================================ SALEM MCNARY AIRPORT CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS 1892 TO 2019 SALEM MCNARY AIRPORT CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON 1981 TO 2010 ============================================================ DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON ONLINE AT: WEATHER.GOV/PORTLAND $$