Widespread gusty winds combined with dry conditions will support elevated to critical fire weather concerns across eastern New Mexico and much of the southern High Plains today; Critical fire weather conditions are also forecast in Guam. Later this evening, an Atmospheric River event will produce moderate to locally heavy rainfall over central and southern California through Saturday. Read More >
ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 151 PM PST SUN DEC 31 2017 ...EUGENE 2017 WEATHER IN REVIEW... ================================================================ 2017 MONTHLY WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS... JANUARY...RATHER CHILLY AND SHOWERY FOR FIRST TWO WEEKS, WITH SNOW SHOWERS FALLING ON THE HILLS AROUND TOWN. ON THE 4TH 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL ON THE HIGHER TERRAIN AROUND EUGENE, WITH JACKPOT BEING 5.0 TO 5.5 INCHES FROM PLEASANT HILL THROUGH CRESWELL. DRY BUT COLD ON 5TH TO 6TH, THEN CAME A MAJOR WINTER STORM. ON THE 7TH, HEAVY SNOW FELL WITH 5 TO 8 INCHES REPORTED ACROSS THE EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD AND SURROUNDING AREAS. BUT THE SNOW TRANSITIONED TO FREEZING RAIN, WITH MANY AREAS GETTING ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF 0.50 TO 1.25 INCHES. THIS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES, WITH MANY WITHOUT POWER FOR SEVERAL DAYS. FOR FIRST TIME IN 30 YEARS, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ORDERED MANDATORY CHAINS ON ALL VEHICLES TRAVELING BETWEEN WILSONVILLE AND EUGENE ON INTERSTATE 5. A LITTLE MORE LIGHT FREEZING RAIN FELL ON THE AREA ON THE 13TH AND 14TH, BUT WAS NOT AS DEVASTATING AS EARLIER STORM. MILDER AIR RETURNED ON THE 16TH AND 17TH, WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING BACK INTO THE 50S DURING THE DAYS. STRONG FRONT ON THE 18TH BROUGHT RAIN AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS. AFTERWARDS, WEATHER BECAME MORE TRANQUIL. WHILE NOT THE RECORD COLDEST THIS WAS THE COLDEST JANUARY SINCE 1993. FEBRUARY...MILD WEATHER CONTINUED, WITH TYPICAL FEB EATHER. SEVERAL FRONTS BROUGHT WIND AND HEAVY RAIN TO THE REGION, MAINLY ON THE 4TH/5TH, 15TH/16TH, AND ANOTHER 20TH/21ST. NONE OF THE LOCAL RIVERS FLOODED, BUT THERE WAS AREAS WITH PONDING OF WATER AND MINOR URBAN FLOODING IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE. ON THE 20TH, AREAS AROUND DEXTER HAD SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN ONTO HWY 58. MARCH...RATHER NORMAL MARCH, WITH NO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS. APRIL...A LOT OF THE DAYS IN APRIL HAD RAIN, 23 DAYS TO BE EXACT. THIS TIED 1948 AND 1893 AS THE 3RD MOST SUCH DAYS IN APRIL. RECORD MOST IS 25 DAYS, SET IN 2003 AND 1993 (NORMAL IS 15 DAYS). A STRONG FRONT PUSHED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE 7TH, WITH SOUTHERLY WINDS GUSTING 40 TO 50 MPH. WINDS MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO FOUR FATALITIES WITH A SMALL PLANE THAT CRASHED WHILE ON APPROACH TO MAHLON SWEET FIELD. WINDS DAMAGED TREES AND BROUGHT DOWN POWER LINES. AT ONE POINT I-5 NEAR ALBANY WAS CLOSED FOR A FEW HOURS IN THE MORNING DUE TO POWER LINES DOWN ON THE INTERSTATE. MAY...TO THE DELIGHT OF GARDENERS, AND THOSE TIRED OF THE WET WINTER, MAY BROUGHT WARM DAYS AND QUITE A FEW DRY DAYS. RAINFALL WAS MORE THAN HALF OF NORMAL, WITH MOST OF THAT FALLING BETWEEN THE 11TH AND 16TH. LITTLE IF ANY RAIN FELL AFTER THE 17TH OF THE MONTH. JUNE...A QUITE PLEASANT, BUT UNEVENTFUL JUNE. MAJORITY OF THE RAIN FOR THE MONTH FELL BETWEEN THE 7TH AND 10TH. SHOWERS ON THE 10TH AND 11TH DID PRODUCE SOME EXCITEMENT, AS A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED TO EAST OF CORVALLIS. AFTER THE 16TH, LITTLE IF ANY RAIN FELL. WITH THIS DRY WEATHER, TEMPERATURES WARMED INTO THE 80S AND 90S, WITH WARMEST OCCURRING ON THE 24TH WITH 96 DEG. JULY...GREAT SUMMER MONTH. WARM DAYS, WITH 25 DAYS OF HIGHS OF AT LEAST 80 DEG. NIGHTS WERE COOLISH, WITH LOWS 45 TO 55 DEG. AND DRY, WITH 0.02 INCH OF RAIN. AUGUST...NEARLY A CARBON COPY OF JULY, AS WAS WARM AND DRY. RAIN RECORDED ON ONLY 1 DAY, WHEN 0.14 INCH FELL ON 13TH. DAILY BREEZY NORTH WINDS, COMBINED WITH THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS OF JULY AND AUGUST, BROUGHT AN INCREASE OF ROADSIDE AND BRUSH FIRES. AFTER RECORD HEAT TO START THE MONTH (102 DEG ON 2ND AND 3RD), THUNDERSTORMS PUSHED UP THE CASCADES. LIGHTNING STARTED MANY FIRES, SOME OF WHICH BECAME QUITE LARGE IN THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS. THE LARGE FIRES INCLUDE THE JONES FIRE NEAR LOWELL, REBEL FIRE ON THE SOUTH FORK OF THE MCKENZIE RIVER, AND THE WHITEWATER FIRE NEAR MARION FORKS, BUT OTHER FIRES WERE OCCURING IN CENTRAL OREGON BACK ACROSS SOUTHWEST OREGON AND INTO NORTHERN CALIF. WINDS ALOFT OFTEN BROUGHT SMOKE TO THE EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD AREA, CREATING UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY AT TIMES. SEPTEMBER...DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS CONTINUED FOR FIRST PART OF SEPTEMBER. HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ROLLED ACROSS THE CASCADES ON THE 7TH. STORMS PRODUCED GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL NEAR OAKRIDGE, WITH QUARTER-SIZED HAIL NEAR BLUE RIVER. MAIN WEATHER STORY FOCUSED ON THE SMOKE AND WILDFIRES OF THE CASCADES, SUCH AS JONES AND REBEL. SMOKE BECAME A DAILY PART OF LIFE FOR THROUGH MID-MONTH, THOUGH THE WORST SEEMS TO BE FIRST 6 DAYS OF THE MONTH, AS LIGHT SOUTHEAST WINDS ALLOWED HEAVY SMOKE TO DRIFT OVER FROM THE FIRES OUT AND OVER THE REGION. SOUTH WINDS HIGHER UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE BROUGHT SMOKE FROM NORTHERN CALIF AND SOUTHWEST OREGON OVER THE REGION AT TIMES AS WELL. A BREAK IN THE HEAT BROUGHT HIGHS IN THE 60S ALONG WITH ONSHORE FLOW BETWEEN THE 17TH AND 23RD. THE ONSHORE FLOW PUSHED THE SMOKE ALOFT BACK TO THE EAST, GIVING THE LOCAL AREA A RESPITE FROM THE SMOKE. OCTOBER...AND JUST LIKE THAT, SUMMER WAS OVER. AFTER SEEING TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MID 70S IN FIRST WEEK, IT WAS 50S AND 60S AFTERWARDS. RATHER ROBUST FRONT ARRIVED ON 21ST INTO 22ND, PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN. LIKE MOST RAIN IN OCTOBER, FALLEN LEAVES AND CLOGGED DRAINS PRODUCE AREAS OF URBAN FLOODING AND PONDING OF WATER. OVERALL, MILD DAYS AND COOL NIGHTS ALLOWED FOR CURING OF TREES, PROVIDING SOME SPECTACULAR DISPLAYS OF AUTUMN COLOR. IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST DRY HALLOWEEN SINCE 2006. NOVEMBER...TEMPERATURES/PRECIPITATION WERE NORMAL. STRONG WINDS GUSTING 40 TO 45 MPH ACCOMPANIED A COLD FRONT ON THE 13TH. THESE WINDS PRODUCED SOME TREE DAMAGE AND SPOTTY POWER OUTAGES. LIGHT WINDS AT NIGHT, WITH CLEAR SKIES, ALLOWED FOR MANY NIGHTS WITH HEAVY FOG, ESPECIALLY DURING THE LAST WEEK. WARM AIR MASS OVER THE REGION FROM 20TH TO 22ND PUSHED TEMPERATURES INTO THE 60S, WARMEST BEING 67 DEG ON 21ST. DECEMBER...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE WESTERN USA KEPT THE AREA MOSTLY DRY FROM 4TH THROUGH THE 18TH. BUT, THIS ALSO FORMED A LOT OF NIGHTTIME AND MORNING FOG, WITH DENSE FOG REPORTED ON NEARLY EVERY DAY FOR FIRST 3 WEEKS OF DECEMBER. THE HIGH PRESSURE MINIMIZED THE MIXING OF THE AIR MASS, LEADING TO MULTIPLE DAYS WITH POOR TO MODERATE AIR QUALITY. A STRONG FRONT BROUGHT AN INCH OF RAIN ON THE 19TH AND 20TH. BETWEEN THE 23RD AND 25TH, ARCTIC AIR SPILLED INTO WESTERN OREGON, WITH SLEET AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN ON THE 24TH. THEN MILDER AIR RETURNED ON 28TH, WITH RAIN FOR A FEW DAYS. EVEN WITH THE RETURN OF RAIN, DECEMBER 2017 FINISHED AS THE 5TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. ============================================================== NEW RECORDS SET IN 2017 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES) + INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES JANUARY... 5TH NEW. DAILY LOW TEMP 13 ( 15 /1924) FEBRUARY... 5TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.24" ( 0.98"/1919) 16TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.69" ( 1.45"/1970) MARCH... NO NEW RECORDS SET. APRIL... NO NEW RECORDS SET. MAY... 4TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 85 ( 83 /2013) JUNE... NO NEW RECORDS SET. JULY... NO NEW RECORDS SET. AUGUST... 2ND NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 102 ( 99 /1939) 3RD NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 102 ( 100 /1993+) 28TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 97 ( 97 /1931+) SEPTEMBER... 3RD TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 96 ( 96 /1949) OCTOBER... 5TH TIED. DAILY LOW TEMP 32 ( 32 /2012) NOVEMBER... 21ST NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 67 ( 63 /1933+) DECEMBER... NO NEW RECORDS SET. =============================================================== 2017 EUGENE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RANKINGS THIS SHOWS WHERE A MONTH/YEAR RANKS IN EUGENES WEATHER RECORD, 1892 TO 2017. RANKINGS ONLY APPLY TO ALL OF THE SAME MONTH, OR IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE JAN 2017 COMPARES TO ALL OTHER JAN. RANKINGS ARE 1 TO 126...WHERE 1 IS THE WARMEST OR WETTEST AND 126 IS THE DRIEST OR COLDEST ON RECORD. JAN FEB MAR APR MAR JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2017 AVG T 112 10 22 5 15 14 51 8 58 17 2 112 77 PRECIP 88 13 33 45 96 87 53 103 91 2 90 122 61 MAX T 107 6 35 5 17 12 72 3 45 86 3 102 68 MIN T 111 17 13 6 21 39 30 53 86 1 4 116 77 =============================================================== 2017 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 42.7 29.4 36.0 -4.7 DEG 55 /18TH 13 / 6TH+ FEB 49.6 36.5 43.0 +0.1 DEG 61 /15TH 28 /24TH MAR 54.9 40.8 47.9 +1.2 DEG 65 /21ST 33 /31ST APR 59.1 40.9 50.0 -0.2 DEG 71 /29TH 33 /15TH MAY 69.2 43.9 56.6 +1.3 DEG 86 /23RD 35 /18TH JUN 74.3 49.1 61.7 +1.3 DEG 96 /24TH 38 / 5TH JUL 84.7 50.2 67.5 +0.7 DEG 94 /31ST 45 /14TH AUG 86.8 52.9 69.9 +3.0 DEG 102 / 3RD+ 43 /15TH SEP 77.2 49.6 63.4 +1.5 DEG 96 / 3RD 40 /24TH OCT 63.4 39.4 51.4 -1.3 DEG 76 / 6TH 27 /31ST NOV 52.5 38.1 45.3 +0.4 DEG 67 /21ST 26 /19TH DEC 44.4 29.2 36.8 -2.9 DEG 56 /29TH 20 /12TH 2017 63.3 41.7 52.5 +0.0 DEG 102 /AUG 2 13 /JAN 6 NORMAL 63.3 41.6 52.5 AUG 3 DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES IN 2017 WHERE... |------ MAXIMUM TEMP --------||------ MINIMUM TEMP ---| <=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+ -------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 19 0 0 FEB 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 MAR 0 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 APR 0 12 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 MAY 0 24 17 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 JUN 0 29 19 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 JUL 0 31 31 25 5 0 0 0 0 0 AUG 0 31 30 27 10 2 0 0 3 0 SEP 0 30 22 14 6 0 0 0 4 0 OCT 0 22 4 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 NOV 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 2017 3 194 124 81 23 2 2 60 7 0 NORMAL 2 195 123 58 14 1 3 51 2 0 FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2017 NORMAL LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING FEB 25 (APR 20) FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR APR 29 (MAR 30) FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 22 (MAY 15) FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR JUN 24 (JUN 25) LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 12 (SEP 11) LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 28 (SEP 29) LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 6 (OCT 21) FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL OCT 5 (OCT 20) ============================================================== 2017 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 4.05 -2.82 15 9 3 0 0.92 JAN 8-9 FEB 9.33 +3.90 23 16 8 3 2.08 FEB 15-16 MAR 5.82 +0.83 22 16 3 0 0.87 MAR 23-24 APR 3.65 +0.32 23 12 1 0 0.71 APR 17-18 MAY 1.22 -1.52 7 5 0 0 0.37 MAY 11 JUN 1.38 -0.12 5 4 1 0 0.62 JUN 10 JUL 0.02 -0.52 2 0 0 0 0.01 JUL 20+ AUG 0.14 -0.47 1 1 0 0 0.14 AUG 13 SEP 1.05 -0.24 7 4 0 0 0.52 SEP 19-20 OCT 4.08 +0.83 10 8 3 1 1.65 OCT 21-22 NOV 7.46 -0.26 20 17 6 1 1.38 NOV 15 DEC 2.47 -5.36 11 6 1 0 0.86 DEC 19 2017 40.14 -5.43 146 98 26 5 2.08 FEB 15-16 NORMAL 46.10 144 93 30 10 EUGENE WATER YEAR 2016-17 (1 OCT 2016 THROUGH 30 SEP 2017) 46.25 INCHES 0.15 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR 2017... TRACE (NORMAL: 2.9 INCHES) ============================================================ 2017 EUGENE AIRPORT WIND AND PRESSURE DATA... AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST MONTH 2017 NORMAL DIRECTION SPEED DATE ---------------------------------------------------------- JAN 6.7 7.1 SOUTH 44 MPH JAN 18 FEB 7.9 7.2 SOUTH 41 MPH FEB 5 MAR 7.9 7.5 SOUTH 54 MPH MAR 1 APR 7.8 7.2 SOUTH 45 MPH APR 7 MAY 6.4 6.7 NORTHWEST32 MPH MAY 16 JUN 7.1 7.0 WEST 36 MPH JUN 9 JUL 7.2 7.5 SOUTHWEST 31 MPH JUL 6 AUG 7.3 7.2 NORTH 33 MPH AUG 20 SEP 6.4 6.8 SOUTHWEST 31 MPH SEP 6 OCT 7.1 6.4 SOUTH 38 MPH OCT 21 NOV 7.1 7.1 SOUTHWEST 31 MPH NOV 18 DEC 5.2 7.2 WEST 36 MPH DEC 19 2017 7.2 7.1 SOUTHWEST 54 MPH MAR 1 HIGHEST PRESSURE IN 2017...30.68 INCHES JAN 27 LOWEST PRESSURE IN 2017...29.07 INCHES JAN 20 ============================================================= EUGENE AIRPORT CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS... 1892 TO 2017 EUGENE AIRPORT CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON... 1981 TO 2010 ============================================================= DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON ONLINE AT: WEATHER.GOV/PORTLAND