Usually, I have trouble picking a “best of Portland weather” fact as I look back over the last calendar year of weather.
But picking a 2020 Portland weather highlight is a total piece of cake.
When COVID-19 came around…and we got locked down…it happened during a spring with solid stretches of good weather and a number of unusually warm days. Entire families were out walking like I’ve never really seen before. Do you remember this? When the world seemed to go crazy with COVID and protests, at least we had some sunshine in PDX! It was, by the way, Portland’s 4th driest April on record.
I will always be thankful that our coronavirus spring was a nice one, weather-wise, instead of a chilly soaker like we have so many years during spring.
So that is my personal weather highlight.
One of the biggest questions people often ask at the end of the year is whether it was wet, or not. For the entire calendar year of 2020, Portland had 32.44″ of rain, which is 90% of average. We average 36″ of rain each year.
Now let’s look at monthly highlights as part of our 2020 year in review.
Portland 2020 Weather Summary
January 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: Portland had rain on 29 of 31 days, the most since January 1964. Portland average’s 18 rainy days in January.
- Warmth (relatively speaking): Portland had its second warmest January (the warmest was 1953)
- Snow: Much of the metro area had snowflakes in the air between January 14-16, many areas had about 1″
February 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: about 50% of average for the month
- Temperatures: about average
- Wind: We had two decent storms creating metro area gusts of 40-45mph during the month
March 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Snow: quite a bit of sledding mid-month, with widespread metro area snow on the 14th, with 1-4″ totals
- Sun: a few days after the snow, we were well into the 60s and the month finished mainly dry and mild
April 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- COVID-19 sanity-saver: Portland was dry from the 6th – 17th of April, with some days in the 70s
- Heat: 5th warmest April on record, tying 1990
- Rain: 4th driest April on record with just .79″ total
May 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- The averages: Portland April 2020 temperatures were close to average, and so was rainfall, but you wouldn’t know that based on the extremes
- The heat: 70s on May 4 (the fourth was with us!), 80s for Mother’s Day Weekend, 90s on the 28th of May.
- The rain: we worked in enough damp and cool days elsewhere to keep gardens and lawns growing and going
June 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: 5th wettest June on record, with 3.51″ total
- Tornado: a twister touched down on the edge of the Portland metro area, in Damascus, on June 13. The tornado created a two-mile path of damage.
- Warm: after June 17, Portland got summer weather rolling, with highs mainly in the 70s and 80s
July 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: just 2 days with measurable rain and .05″ total for the month. Average July rain is about .60″
- Heat: Portland hit 100 degrees on both July 26 & 27.
August 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Solid Summer: on 21 days Portland highs were in the 80s, which is what we expect (and some of us live for!)
- Heat: Portland’s hottest August day was on the 15th with a high of 99 degrees
- Rain: just .38″, about 50% of average
September 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Wind: Portland had the strongest September winds since 1963, with gusts of 45-55mph. Trees came down, the power went out, fires started.
- The Cause: Unusually cold air dropping into the central U.S. on September 7 &8 (and east of the Cascades) created strong east winds (blowing from the east) over the Cascades and into the metro area.
- Fires: the winds fueled intense wildfires west of the Cascades, forced metro area evacuations, and carried immense amounts of smoke into Willamette Valley skies
- Smoke: Portland and the Willamette valley had the ‘worst air quality in the world’ for several days, and smoke dominated our skies from September 8-18
- The warmth: September 2020 tied for third warmest September on record
October 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: Portland’s rainy season kicked off on October 10, but most of the early systems only brought light rain
- Totals: October was unusually dry, with 1.51″ of rain, about half of our 3″ average total
- Freeze: Portland has its earliest fall freeze since 1949 on the morning of October 26.
November 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Tornado: a thunderstorm produced a tornado near St. Helens
- Boring: an extremely average weather month for Portland. 20 days of rain, adding up to 5.28″ and very little excitement
December 2020 Portland Weather Highlights
- Rain: it rained every day from December 8-22
- Flooding: minor flooding occurred in parts of the metro area as we had 1.5-3″ of rain December 19 & 20
- Below average: rainfall was 5.09″ which was .40″ below average
- Above-average: Portland had its 9th warmest December (tied with 1957 & 1999)
For more Portland climate data, be sure to check out the climate page from the National Weather Service in Portland.
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