January 2012 Climate Summary
January 2012 wasn’t the most normal of Januarys but it did have a bit of winter mixed in. After a very mild start colder temperatures arrived around the 11th and by the 17th and 18th we had a snow fall! Of course it was a pretty typical Northwest snowfall which is one brought on by a warmer Pacific storm overrunning embedded cool air. That combination usually results in snow early turning eventually to rain. By 9pm on the 17th snow was falling with temperatures right around the freezing mark. At 12:57am on the 18th the low for the 18th was set at 32.5 and from there the temperatures rose. I awoke at 4am on the 18th to the sound of rain hitting the window. By 7am there was around 4″ of snow on the ground and it was raining hard. Throughout the rest of the day it rained and the temperatures rose. The eventual high for the 18th was 50.6 set at 11:28pm! Of course the rising temperatures and rain doomed the snow with most of it was gone by 4pm.
The next few days were stormy and wet eventually totaling 3.01″ at my weather station. The rest of the month was fairly calm and it finished out with a little bit more rainfall and some warmer temperatures.
Values in parenthesis are from 2011 and the average for the month for comparison.
High Temperature: 54.9 01/03 (57.1 in 2011, 56.2 average)
Low Temperature: 25.0 01/12 (21.3 in 2011, 25.9 average)
Mean Temperature: 40.7 (43.8 in 2011, 40.8 average)
Rain: 4.92″ (3.65″ in 2011, 4.82″ average)
Wind Speed High: 23mph 01/02 (26 mph in 2011, 34.6 mph average)
Wind Speed Average: 1.0 mph (1.0 mph in 2011, 2.4 mph average)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2011)
Mean Humidity: 95% (93% in 2011, 90.8 average)
2011 Climate Sumary
Happy New Year 2012! Did it feel like 2011 was a cool temperature year? It was! Check out the mean temperature for the year in comparison to 2010 and the average (since 1999). That’s a pretty significant difference when you think about a whole year. Remember through the year how it seemed we were always behind in the season? Spring started late and summer started late blending with early fall. That sensation just confirms how unusual 2011 was weather wise. The rest of the stats were reasonably average.
In 2012 my Davis Weather Monitor II will be 13 years old. I’m noticing that the thermometer is giving off some spurious readings occasionally so it is looking like there will be some equipment upgrades required this year. I also need to do some repair to the house where the weather station is located so there’s a good chance it will be down for a period of time while that occurs. Instead of replacing the thermometer I’m considering a replacement weather station which will still upload data to the popular weather websites but would preclude me from producing my own site. I’m weighing options now for what would be the best solution moving forward. Look for more updates from me as the year progresses.
Here’s the statistics for the year:
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 for comparison.
High Temperature: 92.8 8/20 (98.0 in 2010, 98.9 average)
Low Temperature: 16.0 02/26 (15.1 in 2010, 20.2 average)
Mean Temperature: 46.1 (53.8 in 2010, 52.4 average)
Rain: 29.71″ (41.75″ in 2010, 29.34″ average)
Wind Speed High: 38 mph 03/13 (43 mph in 2010, 43.6 mph average)
Wind Speed Average: 2.0 mph (2.0 mph in 2010, 1.9 mph average)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2010)
December 2011 Climate Summary
December was an odd month as Decembers go. After quite a bit of rain towards the end of November a ridge formed to our west sending all the storms around us. The result was the Northwest went the better part of 4 weeks without significant rain. At one point we were on track for the driest December on record but the ridge broke down and by the 27th more normal weather started up again spoiling the chance for a record.
Was it nice to have so little rain in December? Not particularly. Since the he air was so stagnant my eyes burned occasionally. We had fog, which is nice for photos, but the cool temperatures turned it into freezing fog which isn’t so nice for driving. None of this is exceptionally bad but having regular storms is one thing which keeps the Northwest so fresh. Hopefully the weather will get back on track and January will start off 2012 in the right direction.
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 and the average for the month for comparison.
High Temperature: 65.8 12/01 (58.3 in 2010, 56.8 average)
Low Temperature: 24.1 12/22 (22.0 in 2010, 23.6 average)
Mean Temperature: 40.9 (42.0 in 2010, 40.0 average)
Rain: 2.09″ (6.86″ in 2010, 5.0″ average)
Wind Speed High: 27mph 12/27 (43 mph in 2010, 40.1 mph average)
Wind Speed Average: 2.0 mph (3.0 mph in 2010, 2.4 mph average)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (E in 2010)
Mean Humidity: 95% (91% in 2010, 90.8 average)
November 2011 Climate Summary
November is traditionally the stormiest and wettest month in the Northwest. This November wasn’t pretty average but it certainly saw the most rainfall of any month so far this year keeping up with tradition. The days around 11/22 ended up being the worst of all. Think of it this way…what else keeps our trees watered and trimmed?
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 and the average for the month for comparison.
High Temperature: 73.7 11/22 (70.2 in 2010, 63.7 average)
Low Temperature: 27.6 11/20 (15.1 in 2010, 27.6 average)
Mean Temperature: 43.3 (44.0 in 2010, 44.8 average)
Rain: 5.32″ (5.55″ in 2010, 4.5″ average)
Wind Speed High: 26mph 11/16 (29 mph in 2010, 34.3 mph average)
Wind Speed Average: 2.0 mph (2.0 mph in 2010, 2.1 mph average)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2010)
Mean Humidity: 96 (94 in 2010, 90.9 average)
October 2011 Climate Summary
October is traditionally the month where the Northwest transitions from late summer into winter like conditions. This year was no different. Check out the extreme temperatures for this month, 73 for a high and 32 for a low. 73 still feels nice and almost summer like while 32 definitely feels cold. The rains have returned now with more days seeing rain than not. At some point in span of the next month and a half we should encounter a good windstorm just to make the transition to winter complete.
Looking at the stats for October nothing stands out. It was really fairly normal month with nothing extreme weather wise. Take note of the fact that I’ve added a value for the monthly average for each of the statistics. That should help with the comparison of the current months stats with all time.
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 and the average for the month for comparison.
High Temperature: 73.7 10/18 (78.6 in 2010, 70.0 average)
Low Temperature: 32.2 10/26 (35.4 in 2010, 33.9 average)
Mean Temperature: 53.0 (53.2 in 2010, 52.8 average)
Rain: 1.92″ (3.99″ in 2010, 2.2″ average)
Wind Speed High: 25 mph 9/3 (25 mph in 2010, 31.8 mph average)
Wind Speed Average: 1.0 mph (1.0 mph in 2010, 1.5 mph average)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2010)
Mean Humidity: 93 (89 in 2010, 90.3 average)
September 2011 Climate Summary
Is it October already? Where did the year go?
September saw the largest concentration of over 90 degree days of any month this year! Four of them! Like the rest of the year the weather remained about 3 weeks behind what we are used to seeing. Early September was warm like August but as the days shortened towards the end the month felt much more fall like. Like most Septembers there was a dose of rain in it but it came no where near my September average of 1.23″ (0.12″ this year). In the end September was the king of hot days for the year.
I wonder how long this trend of being off will last? October and November represent the months in which our weather turns from generally mild back to rainy and blustery. Will that happen on schedule or will it be late too?
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 for comparison.
High Temperature: 91.6 9/70 (85.8 in 2010)
Low Temperature: 45.4 9/28 (46.4 in 2010)
Mean Temperature: 64.8 (61.8 in 2010)
Rain: 0.12″ (2.61″ in 2010)
Wind Speed High: 30 mph 9/3 (26 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Average: 1.0 mph (1.0 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: N (S in 2010)
July 2011 Climate Summary
July seems like it has been a boring month. Not much rain, not much sun, not much wind. Not much. Our cool year continues with July never really feeling like a summer month until towards the end. Take a look at the mean temperature between the two years, nearly 1 degree difference! In July there was not one day over 90 degree. In fact this weather station has not broken 90 yet this year! Will it happen? We’ll see. If it happens it will have to be in the first 3 weeks of August where temperatures tend to be higher.
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 for comparison.
High Temperature: 87.4 7/6 (98 in 2010)
Low Temperature: 47.6 7/1 (47.5 in 2010)
Mean Temperature: 65.1 (59.0 in 2010)
Rain: 0.87″ (.77″ in 2010)
Wind Speed High: 16 mph 7/26 (25 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Average: 1.0 mph (1.0 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: N (N in 2010)
May 2011 Climate Summary
May started to move us towards feeling like spring. There was still plenty of rain and local rivers are swollen thanks to it. There were a couple of really nice days in May though including one nearly 80 degree day. June is starting out promising with some 80 degree temperatures predicted for this weekend! Still May this year was cooler than last year.
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 for comparison.
High Temperature: 79.8 5/22 (78.7 in 2010)
Low Temperature: 36.3 5/1 (38.1 in 2010)
Mean Temperature: 52.8 (53.4 in 2010)
Rain: 2.64″ (4.26″ in 2010)
Wind Speed High: 22 mph 4/13 (32 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Average: 2.0 mph (2.0 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2010)
April 2011 Climate Summary
Cold and wet. Portland experienced the coolest, wettest April on record. Check out the mean temperature at my weather station in comparison to 2010. 3.3 degrees might not seem like much, but that is over 30 days! Need I say anything more? Here’s the stats for April:
Values in parenthesis are from 2010 for comparison.
High Temperature: 70.1 4/23 (73.3 in 2010)
Low Temperature: 30.6 4/8 (33.4 in 2010)
Mean Temperature: 46.3 (49.6 in 2010)
Rain: 3.40″ (2.71″ in 2010)
Wind Speed High: 25 mph 4/13 (40 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Average: 2.0 mph (3.0 mph in 2010)
Wind Speed Dominant Direction: S (S in 2010)
March 2011 Climate Summary – Follow Up
I just read this from UW meteorologist Cliff Mass about our spring weather:
Portland has had its fifth wettest winter on record and the LATEST on record in getting to 60F. That is really the central problem: as long as we get a few warm spring days it is tolerable…this year they have been few warm intervals.
If you are feeling like it isn’t spring yet I think I can see why.
