The Year In Weather: Oregon’s 2014 Report

I think the craziest weather of 2014 award has to go to Sunriver–which had an incredible summer hailstorm that made it look like it had snowed! The temperature there also dropped more than 20 degrees in just a few minutes thanks to the thunderstorm.

But west of the mountains the weather in Oregon was epic for a different reason: summer 2014 was one of the warmest and nicest ever recorded in the Willamette Valley!

I’m pasting in Portland’s 2014 ‘year in review’, below, but here are links to other cities. All these reports are great and thanks to the National Weather Service in Portland for creating these!

Salem 2014 – Weather Year In Review
Astoria 2014 – Weather Year In Review
Eugene 2014 – Weather Year In Review

 

 ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
825 AM PST THU JAN 1 2015

…PORTLAND 2014 WEATHER IN REVIEW…

================================================================
MONTHLY WEATHER RECAPS…

JANUARY…A RATHER UNEVENTFUL MONTH OF WEATHER…WITH OVERALL
A RATHER TYPICAL JANUARY. INCOMING FRONTS WERE WEAK…AND
BROUGHT LESS THAN NORMAL RAINFALL. HIGH PRESSURE MID MONTH
GAVE REGION STRING OF MILD DAYS AND COOL NIGHTS FROM THE
13TH THROUGH THE 26TH.

FEBRUARY…AFTER A VERY MILD START…ARCTIC AIR FILTERED INTO
THE REGION…BRING VERY COLD AIR. HIGHS WERE ONLY IN THE
20S FROM THE 5TH TO THE 7TH. OCCASIONAL SNOW FELL ON THE
6TH THROUGH THE 8TH. NWS OFFICE NEAR THE AIRPORT GOT 7.3
INCHES…WHILE DOWNTOWN GOT 8 INCHES. AREAS JUST TO WEST
AND NORTH OF PORTLAND RECEIVED 8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW.
MUCH WARMER AIR RETURNED ON THE 10TH AND 11TH…WITH HIGHS
BACK INTO THE MID 50S BY THE 12TH. REGULAR FRONTS KEPT
TEMPERATURES MILD WITH ONSHORE FLOW…ALONG WITH RAIN.
THE STRONGEST FRONT BROUGHT GUSTY SOUTH WINDS OF 50 TO
60 MPH TO THE METRO AREA ON THE 15TH INTO THE 16TH.

MARCH…MARCH ROARED IN LIKE A LION…WITH WIND AND RAIN.
WIND GUSTS OF 45 TO 55 MPH ON THE 6TH BROUGHT SOME TREE
DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES. IT WAS A MILD…AND WET MONTH.
STRONGEST FRONT BROUGHT 1.69 INCHES OF RAIN TO AIRPORT
ON THE 28TH. MARCH 2014 RAINFALL OF 7.52 INCHES TIED
WITH 1957 AS SECOND WETTEST MARCH SINCE 1941.

APRIL…RATHER NICE MONTH OF WEATHER. TEMPERATURES WARMED IN
THE 70S SEVERAL TIMES…AND EVEN THE LOWER 80S ON THE 30TH.
RAINFALL WAS NEAR NORMAL…WITH MOST RAIN FALL BETWEEN THE
19TH AND 27TH. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT GUSTY WINDS
AND HAIL TO THE REGION ON THE 27TH.

MAY…MAY CONTINUED WHERE APRIL ENDED…WARM. IT WAS 89 DEG
ON THE FIRST…THE WARMEST MAY 1ST ON RECORD. BUT IT DID
NOT LAST. MORE TYPICAL MAY LIKE TEMPERATURES RETURNED BY
BY THE 3RD…WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S. ANOTHER BRIEF BURST
OF HEAT OCCURRED ON THE 13TH AND 14TH…WITH TEMPERATURE
PEAKING AT 91 ON THE 14TH. MAY 2014 FINISHED AS THE 5TH
WARMEST MAY ON RECORD FOR THE AIRPORT. LATE IN AFTERNOON
OF THE 18TH…A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED GUSTY WINDS TO 65
MPH…RESULTING IN SOME TREE DAMAGE NEAR DOWNTOWN.

JUNE…OVERALL…RATHER NORMAL AND UNEVENTFUL JUNE. HOWEVER…
THERE WAS AN IMPRESSIVE BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT PUSHED
ACROSS THE REGION ON AFTERNOON/EVENING OF THE 25TH. UP TO
2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN FELL…CREATING POCKETS OF URBAN
FLOODING FROM SOUTHWEST PORTLAND NORTHEAST INTO VANCOUVER.

JULY…HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC GREW STRONGER IN
JULY. THIS MAINTAINED A RELATIVELY DRY AIR MASS OVER THE AREA.
BUT ONSHORE FLOW WAS NOT AS STRONG AS NORMALLY EXPECTED. SO
EVENING COOLING WAS NOT AS PRONOUNCED…LEAVING MANY NIGHTS
IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S. SMOKE FROM THE WILDFIRES OVER
SOUTHWEST OREGON BROUGHT HAZE AT TIMES. WHILE MOST DAYS WERE
DRY…THUNDERSTORMS ON 22ND AND 23RD BROUGHT FEW DOWNPOURS.
IT WAS THE 4TH WARMEST JULY…WITH AVERAGE TEMP OF 71.8 DEG.

AUGUST…AUGUST CONTINUED WHERE JULY ENDED…DRIER THAN NORMAL.
UPPER LOW PRESSURE OFF THE SOUTH OREGON COAST BECAME THE
DOMINANT WEATHER PATTERN. THIS PATTERN MAINTAINED A WARM
AND HUMID SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER WESTERN OREGON THROUGH MUCH OF
THE MONTH. AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CASCADES
TEASED PORTLAND WITH A FEW SPRINKLES FROM TIME TO TIME.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DID WORK INTO THE METRO AREA ON THE
1ST…AND AGAIN ON THE 12TH. BUT STILL…NOT MUCH RAIN.

WARM HUMID SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT BROUGHT UNUSUALLY HIGH
DEWPOINT TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION. PORTLAND AUGUST LOWS
ARE NORMALLY 55 TO 60 DEG…BUT WITH THE HUMID AIR IN PLACE…
TEMPERATURES HAD A DIFFICULT TIME DROPPING OUT OF THE 60S.
THIS MADE FOR MANY UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHTS AND WITH WARM MUGGY
DAYS. AUGUST 2014 TIED THE RECORD FOR THE MOST NIGHTS WITH
LOW TEMPERATURES AT OR ABOVE 60 DEG…WITH 22 SUCH NIGHTS.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 22 SET IN 2013.

IN PART DUE TO THE WARM NIGHTS…AUGUST 2014 FINISHED AS
THE WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD AT THE AIRPORT…WITH AVERAGE
TEMP OF 73.1 DEG (PREVIOUS RECORD 72.9 IN 1967).
FOR DOWNTOWN…IT WAS THE 5TH WARMEST WITH AVERAGE TEMP
OF 71.9 DEG (DATING BACK TO 1872).

SEPTEMBER…STARTED DRY AND WARM…WITH HIGHS WELL INTO THE
70S AND 80S. LIKE AUGUST…OVERNIGHT LOWS WERE WELL ABOVE
NORMAL. SEPTEMBER AVERAGE TEMP WAS 67.6 DEG…WHICH TIED
1994 AS THE WARMEST SEPTEMBER FOR THE AIRPORT. WILL ALL
THE DRY WEATHER IN THE REGION DURING THE SUMMER…SEVERAL
WILDFIRES CREATED SMOKE THAT PASSED OVER THE METRO FROM
TIME TO TIME. LARGEST NEARBY FIRE WAS THE 36 PIT FIRE…
LOCATED NEAR ESTACADA.

OCTOBER…STARTED WARM AND DRY. A SERIES OF FRONT ARRIVED BY
THE 10TH…BRING MORE SEASONABLE WEATHER AND RAIN. A VERY
STRONG FRONT BROUGHT VERY HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE REGION ON
22ND AND 23RD….WITH GENERALLY 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN.
ANOTHER STRONG FRONT ARRIVED ON THE 25TH…BRINGING GUSTY
SOUTH WINDS. WITH TREES STILL HEAVY WITH LEAVES…THE
45 TO 55 MPH WIND GUSTS BROKE TREE LIMBS…TOPPLED TREES
AND KNOCKED OUT POWER TO NEARLY 150K HOMES.

AVERAGE OCTOBER TEMPERATURE WAS 60.1 MAKES OCTOBER 2014
THE WARMEST OCT ON RECORD FOR THE AIRPORT. THE PREVIOUS
RECORD WAS 58.6 DEG IN OCTOBER 1952. DOWNTOWN PORTLAND
HAD THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

NOVEMBER…IT WAS A RATHER BENIGN MONTH…AS TEMPERATURES WERE
NEAR NORMAL. EARLY ARCTIC OUTBREAK OVER THE ROCKIES AND
PLAINS STATES BROUGHT PUSHED COLD AIR WESTWARD INTO THE
PAC NW. WHILE IT WAS NOT EXTRAORDINARILY COLD…THE AIR
MASS DID RESULT IN STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW WITH STRONG EAST
WINDS ACROSS THE REGION FROM THE 10TH TO 15TH…AND EAST
WINDS CONTINUING BUT LIGHTER FROM 16TH TO 20TH. MOISTURE
MOVING NORTH FROM CALIFORNIA INTO OREGON FELL INTO THE
COLD AIR ON THE 12TH AND 13TH…RESULTING IN FREEZING
RAIN WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE. MORE SIGNIFICANT
ICE ACCUMULATIONS WERE IN THE COLUMBIA GORGE. THE DRY
OFFSHORE PATTERN CUT THE RAINFALL TO ABOUT HALF OF NORMAL.

DECEMBER…STARTED RATHER TYPICAL…WITH CHILLY NIGHTS AND
COOL DAYS. A STRONG FRONT PUSHED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE
4TH…BRINGING 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN. THE STORM TRACK
THEN SHIFTED…PUSHING STRONG STORMS INTO CALIFORNIA.
METRO AREA WAS NOT AS WET…BUT WAS MUCH MILDER. A STRONG
STORM DEVELOPED OFFSHORE ON THE 11TH…AND BROUGHT A
BRIEF PERIOD OF VERY STRONG SOUTH WINDS. WINDS ACROSS
THE METRO AREA BROKE TREE LIMBS…TOPPLED MORE TREES
AND KNOCKED OUT POWER TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMES. THE
PORTLAND AIRPORT RECORDED A GUST TO 67 MPH…MAKING IT
THE STRONGEST WIND STORM TO HIT THE METRO SINCE DEC 1995.

ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE ENDED THE MONTH ON A COLD BUT HIGH
NOTE. RECORD HIGHEST PRESSURE OF 30.83 INCHES OCCURRED
ON THE 30TH…HIGHEST FOR ANY DECEMBER. THIS BROKE THE
PREVIOUS HIGHEST IN DECEMBER OF 30.75 SET ON 1 DEC 2011.
THE 30.83 WAS ALSO THE 2ND HIGHEST PRESSURE READING AT
PORTLAND SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1941.

=================================================================
NEW RECORDS SET IN 2014 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES)
PERIOD OF RECORD FOR PORTLAND AIRPORT: 1940-2014
(+ INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES)

JAN…
10TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 57 DEG (57/2008)
11TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 58 DEG (57/1953)

FEB…
5TH NEW. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 29 DEG (34/1972)
6TH NEW. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 23 DEG (38/1948)
7TH NEW. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 28 DEG (39/1989)
7TH NEW. DAILY LOW TEMP 20 DEG (21/1982)
8TH NEW. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 31 DEG (38/1975)
8TH TIED. DAILY LOW TEMP 25 DEG (25/1994)
9TH NEW. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 33 DEG (36/1975)

MAR…
5TH NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 1.18 INCHES (0.92/1989)
28TH NEW. .DAILY PRECIPITATION 1.69 INCHES (1.25/1943)
28TH MOST RAIN ON A MARCH DAY 1.69″ (1.54/29 MAR 1983)
MAR TIED WITH 1957 AS SECOND WETTEST MARCH FOR AIRPORT.
MARCH 2014 RAINFALL 7.52 INCHES.

APR…
NO NEW RECORDS.

MAY…
1ST NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 89 DEG (85/1998)
1ST TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 53 DEG (53/1998)
14TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 91 DEG (88/2012)
15TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 58 DEG (58/1997)
18TH NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 1.06 INCHES (0.59/2005)

JUN…
NO NEW RECORDS.

JUL…
5TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 61 DEG (61/2008)
6TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 63 DEG (63/1997)
7TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 64 DEG (63/1985)
22ND NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 0.41 INCH (0.12/2005)
23RD TIED. DAILY COOL HIGH TEMP 68 DEG (68/2008)
23RD NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 0.62 INCH (0.06/1959)
JUL 4TH WARMEST SINCE 1941 71.8 DEG

AUG…
1ST TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 66 DEG (66/1949)
11TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 69 DEG (65/1990)
11TH NEW. WARMEST LOW TEMP IN AUGUST EVER.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 68 DEG SET
ON 16 AUG 2008 AND 25 AUG 1996
12TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 67 DEG (66/1992)
26TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 63 DEG (63/2002)
AUG MOST NIGHTS WITH LOW =>60 22 DAYS (22/2013)
AUG WARMEST AUG SINCE 1941 73.1 DEG (72.9/1967)

SEP…
18TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 61 DEG (61/2000)
19TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 62 DEG (62/2000)
22ND NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 61 DEG (59/1953)
23RD NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 60 DEG (59/2011)

OCT…
7TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 83 DEG (83/1943)
11TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 56 DEG (56/1988)
22ND NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 1.88 INCH (1.31/1951)

NOV…
5TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 54 DEG (53/2012)
25TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 63 DEG (63/1977)
25TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 54 DEG (53/1999)
26TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 62 DEG (61/1949)
26TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 54 DEG (52/1949)
27TH NEW. WARM LOW TEMP 54 DEG (48/1983)

DEC…
2ND TIED. DAILY LOW TEMP 23 DEG (23/1985)
9TH TIED. WARM LOW TEMP 46 DEG (46/1988)
11TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 64 DEG (61/1955)
30TH NEW. HIGHEST DEC PRES 30.83 INCHES (30.75/2011)

YEAR 2014 SET NEW RECORD FOR MOST NIGHTS WHEN LOW TEMPERATURE
WAS 60 DEG OR WARMER. THERE WAS 50 SUCH NIGHTS IN 2014.
PREVIOUS WAS 2013 WITH 45 DAYS.
2014 WAS THE 2ND WARMEST YEAR FOR PORTLAND AIRPORT WITH
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 56.1 DEGREES. THE WARMEST ON
RECORD WAS 1992 WITH 56.2 DEGREES.

============================================================
2014 PORTLAND AIRPORT TEMPERATURE DATA

|— AVERAGES —-| MEAN T DEPART| EXTREME TEMPS/DATE |
MONTH |HIGHS LOWS MEAN| FROM NORMAL | HIGHEST LOWEST |
=============================================================
JAN 47.7 35.1 41.4 -0.5 DEG 58 /11TH 25 /25TH
FEB 46.0 34.6 40.3 -4.0 DEG 58 /28TH 19 / 6TH
MAR 58.0 40.2 49.1 +0.5 DEG 69 /24TH 32 /22ND
APR 62.6 44.7 53.7 +0.9 DEG 83 /30TH 39 /28TH*
MAY 71.1 51.3 61.2 +2.4 DEG 91 /14TH 42 / 7TH
JUN 73.4 53.9 63.7 -0.4 DEG 85 /30TH 48 /18TH
JUL 83.8 59.8 71.8 +2.1 DEG 99 / 1ST 54 /25TH
AUG 84.8 61.4 73.1 +3.0 DEG 99 /11TH 54 /21ST
SEP 78.7 56.5 67.6 +2.6 DEG 94 /20TH 51 /30TH
OCT 68.0 52.1 60.1 +4.7 DEG 85 / 6TH* 47 /31ST
NOV 51.9 40.7 46.3 -0.8 DEG 63 /25TH 26 /30TH
DEC 49.2 39.1 44.1 +3.7 DEG 64 /11TH 21 /31ST

2014 64.7 47.5 56.1 +1.6 DEG 99 /AUG 11 19 /FEB 6
NORMAL 63.2 45.7 54.5 99 /JUL 1

DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES IN 2014 WHERE…
|—— MAXIMUM TEMP ——–||—— MINIMUM TEMP —|
<=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+
==============================================================
JAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0
FEB 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 0 0
MAR 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
APR 0 16 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
MAY 0 29 17 5 1 0 0 0 0 0
JUN 0 30 22 5 0 0 0 0 2 0
JUL 0 31 30 23 7 0 0 0 18 0
AUG 0 31 31 26 9 0 0 0 22 0
SEP 0 30 26 12 4 0 0 0 8 0
OCT 0 26 14 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOV 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
DEC 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0

2014 5 192 145 77 21 0 2 37 50 0
NORMAL 2 197 120 54 12 1 2 30 21 0

FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF… IN 2014 NORMAL
LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING MAR 22 (MAR 19)
FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR APR 7 (MAR 30)
FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR APR 30 (MAY 10)
FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 14 (JUN 16)

LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 20 (SEP 8)
LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 7 (SEP 29)
LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 19 (OCT 18)
FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL NOV 12 (NOV 15)
==============================================================

2014 PORTLAND AIRPORT RAINFALL DATA…
DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES WHERE …
TOTAL DEPARTURE DAYS WITH AT LEAST… GREATEST IN
MONTH RAIN FM NORMAL 0.01 0.10 0.50 1.00 24HRS & DATE
===============================================================
JAN 2.70 -2.18 13 8 1 0 0.68 JAN 11
FEB 5.12 +1.46 18 14 2 1 1.19 FEB 17-18
MAR 7.52 +3.84 21 15 5 2 1.73 MAR 27-28
APR 3.03 +0.30 16 12 0 0 0.62 APR 23-24
MAY 2.39 -0.08 14 7 1 1 1.18 MAY 17-18
JUN 2.33 +0.63 11 7 2 0 0.75 JUN 25-26
JUL 1.05 +0.40 4 2 1 0 0.63 JUL 23-24
AUG 0.01 -0.66 1 0 0 0 0.01 AUG 12
SEP 0.98 -0.49 5 4 0 0 0.70 SEP 23-24
OCT 5.94 +2.94 17 14 3 1 2.13 OCT 22-23
NOV 2.99 -2.64 17 9 2 0 0.78 NOV 21-22
DEC 6.05 +0.56 21 15 4 2 1.19 DEC 4-5

2014 40.11 +4.08 158 107 21 6 2.13 OCT 22-23
NORMAL 36.03 155 91 19 4

PORTLAND WATER YEAR 2013-14 (1 OCT 2013 THROUGH 30 SEP 2014)
30.95 INCHES 5.08 INCHES BELOW NORMAL

============================================================
2014 PORTLAND AIRPORT WIND AND PRESSURE DATA…

AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST
2014 (NORMAL) DIRECTION SPEED DATE
============================================================
JAN 7.99.3EAST 47 MPH JAN 23
FEB 10.3 8.7 SOUTHWEST 55 MPH FEB 17
MAR 7.7 7.7 SOUTH 47 MPH MAR 6
APR 6.9 7.1 WEST 36 MPH APR 27
MAY 6.1 6.7WEST 32 MPH MAY 9
JUN 6.3 7.0 SOUTHWEST 27 MPH JUN 27
JUL 6.7 7.2 SOUTH 29 MPH JUL 24
AUG 6.5 6.8 NORTHWEST 26 MPH AUG 19
SEP 6.3 6.2 EAST 44 MPH SEP 11
OCT 6.6 6.3 SOUTH 49 MPH OCT 25
NOV 10.0 8.0 EAST 54 MPH NOV 11
DEC 10.1 9.3 SOUTH 67 MPH DEC 11

2014 7.6 7.5SOUTH 67 MPH DEC 11

HIGHEST PRESSURE IN 2014…30.83 INCHES DEC 30
LOWEST PRESSURE IN 2014…29.12 INCHES DEC 12

============================================================
PORTLAND AIRPORT CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS… 1940 TO 2014
PORTLAND AIRPORT CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON… 1981 TO 2010
============================================================

DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON