ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 150 PM PST SUN DEC 31 2017 ...PORTLAND 2017 WEATHER IN REVIEW... ================================================================ 2017 MONTHLY WEATHER RECAPS... JANUARY..IT WAS A CHILLY JANUARY, WITH HIGHS THROUGH THE 15TH OFTEN STRUGGLING TO REACH 32 DEG THANKS TO MODERATE EAST WINDS. SNOW FELL ON FIRST DAY OF YEAR, WITH 4 TO 7 INCHES FALLING IN ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST PORTLAND, OREGON CITY, AND AREAS EASTWARD. BUT LITTLE IF ANY SNOW FELL ELSEWHERE. A STRONGER STORM ARRIVED ON THE 7TH THROUGH THE 8TH, WITH SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN. FROM ONE TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL, AND 0.10 TO 0.75 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION FROM FREEZING RAIN. MANY ABANDONED VEHICLES ON HIGHWAYS, AND OVER 260 FLIGHTS CANCELED AT PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. MORE LIGHT FREEZING RAIN FELL LATER ON THE 8TH THROUGH THE 9TH. ANOTHER FRONT BROUGHT THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCED HEAVY SNOW DURING THE EVENING OF THE 10TH INTO THE 11TH MANY AREAS FROM HILLSBORO ACROSS EAST PORTLAND AND NORTH INTO CLARK COUNTY PICKED UP 8 TO 13 INCHES OF SNOW. LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 16 INCHES WEST HILLS ACROSS NORTH PORTLAND INTO VANCOUVER. THE HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS BROUGHT DOWN POWER LINES AND CLOSED ROADS. A ROOF ON A HILLSBORO WAREHOUSE COLLAPSED FROM WEIGHT OF THE WET HEAVY SNOW. A SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM STRUCK THE REGION ON 16TH AND 17TH. ACCUMULATIONS OF 0.25 TO 0.50 WERE COMMON, WITH 0.50 TO 1.00 INCH OF ICE COMMON FROM I5 EASTWARD, ABOUT 10 MILES EITHER SIDE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. AGAIN, POWER WAS OUT FOR MANY PEOPLE. AREAS INSIDE THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE RECEIVED UP TO 2 INCHES OF ICE, WITH MAJOR TREE DAMAGE. INTERSTATE 84 WAS CLOSED FOR DAYS DUE TO ICE AND DOWNED TREES. OVER 180 FLIGHTS WERE CANCELED AT PORTLAND INTL. IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE 18TH/19TH THAT TEMPERATURES RETURNED TO MORE NORMAL. FORTUNATELY, WEATHER WAS MUCH MORE QUIET. FEBRUARY... STRONG EAST WINDS WERE GUSTED 50 TO 55 MPH FROM THE 1ST TO 2ND, WITH COLD TEMPERATURES IN PLACE WHEN RAIN ARRIVED ON THE 3RD. THIS RESULTED IN ROUND OF ICY ROADS, WITH 0.10 TO 0.33 INCH OF ICE ACROSS THE METRO. MOST OF THE FREEZING RAIN FELL IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE 3RD. THERE WERE MANY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, INCLUDING A 50-CAR PILEUP ON I-5 NEAR CAPITOL HILL. WARM AIR RETURNED ON THE 4TH AND 5TH, BUT ALSO CAME A LOT OF RAIN. RAIN ON THE 5TH TOTALED 2.19" MAKING THE WETTEST SINGLE DAY IN FEB EVER, SURPASSING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 2.16 INCHES SET ON 6 FEB 1996. MILD WEATHER RETURNED AFTER THE 8TH, WITH MORE TYPICAL FEBRUARY WEATHER. HEAVY RAIN FELL ON THE 15TH AND 16TH, WITH 2.50 TO 3.5O INCHES IN MANY AREAS. THIS CAUSED SOME STREET/LOW LYING AREA FLOODING. FEBRUARY FINISHED WITH 10.36 INCHES OF RAIN, SURPASSING FEB 1996 (10.03 INCHES) AS THE WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD FOR PORTLAND AIRPORT. MARCH...MILD MONTH, BUT FAIRLY WET, WITH ABOUT TWICE THE NORMAL RAINFALL. MARCH 2017 TOTAL RAINFALL WAS ABOUT A HALF INCH SHY OF THE RECORD, FINISHING AS THE 4TH WETTEST MARCH. DID HAVE A FEW DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE 21ST THROUGH THE 24TH. A THUNDERSTORM ON THE 24TH PRODUCED AN EF0 TORNADO IN THE COVINGTON AND ORCHARDS AREA OF VANCOUVER. WINDS WITH THE TORNADO WERE LIKELY IN THE 65 TO 85 MPH. APRIL...LIKE MARCH, APRIL WAS GENERALLY UNEVENTFUL, WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL. HOWEVER, A POWERFUL LOW PRESSURE MOVED UP THE OREGON/WASHINGTON COAST ON THE 7TH. THIS BROUGHT GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS TO THE REGION, WITH GUSTS OF 55 TO 70 MPH ACROSS THE METRO. PEAK WINDS HIT 57 MPH AT PORTLAND AIPORT AND 61 MPH AT HILLSBORO AIRPORT, WHILE A 76 MPH GUST WAS RECORDED AT THE OMSI BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN PORTLAND. THESE WINDS WINDS CAPSIZED A BOAT ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER NEAR MULTNOMAH FALL, BUT THE FOUR ON BOARD WERE RESCUED. MANY HOMES LOST POWER. MAY...A RATHER PLENTY MONTH. STARTED ON WETTER SIDE, BUT ONLY A TRACE OF RAIN FELL FROM THE 18TH TO THE 31ST. A WARM SPELL AROUND THE 21ST TO 28TH PEAKED WITH HIGH OF 91 ON THE 22ND. THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED ON 4TH, 13TH, AND 16TH. THE STORMS ON THE 4TH WERE BIT STRONG, PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS, HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL. ONE-INCH DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH A STORM NEAR VERNONIA, AND CARSON, WA. JUNE...ANOTHER QUIET MONTH, FOR THE MOST PART. TEMPERATURES GOT A BIT WARM LATER IN JUNE, WITH 3-DAY STRETCH OF 90 DEG OR WARMER. HOTTEST DAY WAS THE 25TH, WITH 101 DEG. JULY...AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE RAIN WAS GONE. ONLY A TRACE OF RAIN WAS RECORDED FOR THE WHOLE MONTH, AND THAT FELL ON THE 20TH. WITH NOT MUCH RAIN OR CLOUDS, TEMPERATURES WERE OFTEN IN THE 80S AND 90S. AUGUST...AUGUST WAS MUCH LIKE JULY, WITH NOT MUCH IN WAY OF RAINFALL AND PLENTY OF WARM DAYS. WARMEST STRETCH OF DAYS STARTED ON 29TH OF JULY AND ENDED ON THE 11TH OF AUGUST. MANY OF THOSE DAYS WERE IN THE 90S, WITH WARMEST DAYS BEING THE 2ND (103 DEG) AND THE 3RD (105 DEG). 2017 ALSO SAW A STRETCH OF 57 DAY DAYS (STARTING 17 JUN) AND ENDING ON 13 AUG. THIS IS THE 3RD LONGEST STRETCH OF DRY DAYS, WITH THE MOST BEING 71 DAYS BACK IN 1967. SMOKE WAS A COMMON VISITOR IN AUGUST, LOFTING OVERHEAD. MAIN SOURCE FOR THE SMOKE WAS FROM FIRES OVER THE CASCADES AND SOUTHWESTERN OREGON, AS WELL AS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. AUGUST 2017 HAD 27 DAYS WITH HIGHS OF AT LEAST 80 DEG. THIS MAKES A NEW RECORD FOR AUGUST, BREAKING PREVIOUS RECORD OF 26 DAYS SET IN AUG 2016. THE 11 DAYS OF 90+ DEG DAYS WAS THE MOST SEEN FOR ANY AUGUST SINCE 1986, BUT DID NOT BREAK THE RECORD MOST (RECORD 13 IN 1967). AUGUST 2017 FINISHED AS THE WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD, WITH AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 73.6 DEG. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 2014 (73.1 DEG). SEPTEMBER...WARM TEMPERATURES CONTINUED INTO SEPTEMBER, WITH TEMPERATURES ABOVE 90 DEG FOR FIRST 5 DAYS OF THE MONTH. SMOKE FROM WILDFIRES AROUND THE PAC NW DRIFTED OVER THE REGION FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT WORST WAS ON 4TH T0 11TH, AND AGAIN 14TH TO 17TH. THIS WAS DUE TO EAST WINDS BLOWING SMOKE FROM THE EAGLE CREEK FIRE WESTWARD ACROSS THE PORTLAND/VANCOUVER METRO AREA. FIRST STRONG FRONT SINCE EARLY JUNE PUSH ACROSS THE AREA ON THE 17TH, USERING IN MUCH COOLER AIR WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S. SHOWERY AND COOL WEATHER PERSISTED THROUGH THE 21ST. A STRONG SHOWER ON THE 19TH PRODUCED FUNNEL CLOUDS NEAR AURORA AND MOLALLA. OCTOBER...IT WAS A GREAT AUTUMN MONTH, WITH CRISPY COOL MORNINGS AND MILD AFTERNOONS. TYPICALLY, THE TRANSITION FROM WARM LATE SUMMER TO CLASSIC COOLER FALL PATTERN OFTEN OCCURS AROUND THE 10TH OF OCTOBER. THIS YEAR WAS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT, WITH SHOWERS AND HIGHS IN THE 50S ON 10TH. COOL SHOWERY WEATHER LASTED THROUGH THE 13TH. THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 12TH PRODUCED A WEAK TORNADO IN SALMON CREEK AREA OF VANCOUVER, WITH MINOR DAMAGE. THAT SAME DAY, ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED A WEAK TORNADO NEAR AURORA. THE TORNADO FLIPPED A COUPLE OF AIRPLANES AT AURORA STATE AIRPORT, AND DID DAMAGE A NEARBY PLANT NURSERY. BOTH TORNADOES WERE RATED EF0, WHICH MEANS WINDS WERE LIKELY 65 TO 85 MPH. STRONGER FRONTS PUSHED ACROSS REGION FROM 18TH TO 22ND, BRINGING FAIRLY HEAVY SHOT OF RAINFALL. HEAVIEST FELL ON THE 21ST, WITH 2.13 INCHES OF RAIN AT THE AIRPORT. NOVEMBER...RATHER UNEVENTFUL NOVEMBER, WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION. DECEMBER...AFTER A FEW WET DAYS TO START THE MONTH, DRY AND SUNNY WEATHER DOMINATED FROM THE 4TH THROUGH THE 15TH WITH MODERATE EAST WINDS AT TIMES. BUT, RAIN RETURNED ON THE 16TH, WITH RAIN AT TIMES TO CLOSE THE MONTH. ROUND OF OFFSHORE WINDS BROUGHT COLDER ARCTIC AIR FROM THE COLUMBIA BASIN WESTWARD THROUGH THE COLUMBIA GORGE AND INTO THE METRO. WEAK FRONT OVER THE REGION BROUGHT SOME SPOTTY LIGHT SNOW ON MORNING OF THE 23RD. MOISTURE ON THE 24TH BROUGHT A MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW FOR THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING, WITH MOST AREAS GETTING ABOUT AN INCH OF SNOW. FREEZING DRIZZLE ROUNDED OUT REST OF THE NIGHT INTO THE 25TH. IT WAS ONLY THE 2ND TIME PORTLAND HAD SNOW ON THE GROUND ON CHRISTMAS MORNING SINCE 1940 (OTHER TIME WAS 2008), AND ONLY THE 6TH TIME SINCE 1884. MILDER PACIFIC AIR RETURNED ON THE 28TH, ALONG WITH GOOD SHOT OF RAIN. RAINFALL TOTALS AROUND THE METRO WERE 1.25 TO 1.75 INCHES, ENOUGH TO CREATE MINOR FLOODING IN AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE. ============================================================== NEW RECORDS SET IN 2017 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES) + INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES JANUARY... 5TH NEW. DAILY LOW TEMP 17 ( 19 /1982+) 11TH NEW. DAILY LOW TEMP 11 ( 16 /1974) 15TH TIED. DAILY LOW TEMP 19 ( 19 /1947) 18TH TIED. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.06" ( 1.06"/1974) FEBRUARY... 5TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 2.19" ( 1.54"/1946) 16TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.70" ( 1.42"/1970) FEB NEW. WETTEST DAY EVER IN FEB 2.19" ( 2.16"/1996) FEB NEW. WETTEST FEB EVER 10.36" (10.03"/1996) MARCH... NO NEW RECORDS SET. APRIL... 24TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.02" ( 0.54"/1970) APR 4TH WETTEST APRIL MAY... NO NEW RECORDS SET. JUNE... 24TH NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 98 ( 96 /1992) 25TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 101 ( 101 /2006) JULY.. NO NEW RECORDS SET. AUGUST... 2ND NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 103 ( 96 /1986) 3RD NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 105 ( 99 /1952) AUG NEW. MOST DAYS WITH 80+ DEG 27 DAYS( 26 /2016) AUG NEW. WARMEST AUG (AVG TEMP) 73.6 ( 73.1 /2014) SEPTEMBER...NO NEW RECORDS SET. 3RD NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 95 ( 94 /2003) OCTOBER... 21ST NEW. DAILY PRECIPITATION 2.13" ( 1.10"/1951) NOVEMBER... 22ND NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 62 ( 59 /2011+) 23RD TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 63 ( 63 /1959) DECEMBER... NO NEW RECORDS SET. ============================================================= 2017 PORTLAND MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RANKINGS THIS SHOWS WHERE MONTH/YEAR RANKS IN PORTLANDS WEATHER RECORD, 1940 TO 2017. RANKINGS ONLY APPLIES TO ALL OF THE SAME MONTH, OR IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE JAN 2017 COMPARES TO ALL OTHER JAN. RANKINGS ARE 1 TO 78...WHERE 1 IS THE WARMEST OR WETTEST AND 78 IS THE DRIEST OR COLDEST ON RECORD. JA FE MA AP MA JU JL AU SE OC NO DE 2017 AVG T 71 65 32 51 19 16 22 1 10 41 29 55 31 PRECIP 51 1 4 6 43 49 77 66 19 19 27 64 10 MAX T 72 61 46 59 21 23 17 2 23 26 39 55 31 MIN T 71 55 11 33 21 9 31 6 9 52 18 56 30 ============================================================ 2017 PORTLAND 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 39.0 28.0 33.5 -7.9 DEG 52 /19TH 11 /13TH FEB 46.8 34.8 40.8 -3.0 DEG 59 / 9TH 29 /13TH MAR 54.2 41.1 47.6 -0.6 DEG 61 /12TH 32 /19TH APR 58.7 42.7 50.7 -1.6 DEG 69 /21ST 35 /11TH+ MAY 70.2 49.3 59.8 +1.5 DEG 91 /22ND 41 / 6TH JUN 75.4 55.3 65.4 +1.8 DEG 101 /25TH 48 / 5TH JUL 82.7 57.3 70.0 +0.8 DEG 91 /30TH 54 /11TH+ AUG 87.1 60.2 73.6 +4.1 DEG 105 / 3RD 52 /14TH SEP 77.5 55.6 66.6 +2.1 DEG 98 / 2ND 46 /24TH OCT 64.2 44.4 54.3 -0.6 DEG 74 / 5TH 35 /31ST NOV 52.6 42.1 47.4 +0.8 DEG 63 /23RD 35 /19TH DEC 45.3 34.2 39.8 -0.6 DEG 56 /29TH 23 /26TH 2017 62.9 45.5 54.2 -0.3 DEG 105 /AUG 3 11 /JAN 13 NORMAL 63.2 45.7 54.5 DAYS IN 2017 WITH TEMPERATURE OF... |------ MAXIMUM TEMP --------||------ MINIMUM TEMP ---| <=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+ -------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 21 0 0 FEB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 MAR 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 APR 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 MAY 0 26 17 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 JUN 0 30 20 8 3 1 0 0 3 0 JUL 0 31 31 22 3 0 0 0 5 0 AUG 0 31 31 27 11 2 0 0 19 0 SEP 0 30 21 14 6 0 0 0 8 0 OCT 0 22 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NOV 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 (THROUGH 30 NOV) 2017 6 187 128 79 24 3 1 45 35 0 NORMAL 2 197 120 54 12 1 2 30 21 0 FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2017 NORMAL LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING MAR 19 (MAR 19) FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 3 (MAR 30) FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 3 (MAY 10) FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 22 (JUN 16) LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 11 (SEP 8) LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 28 (SEP 29) LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 28 (OCT 18) FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL DEC 9 (NOV 15) ============================================================== 2017 PORTLAND 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 4.13 -0.75 14 8 4 1 1.42 JAN 17-18 FEB 10.36 +6.70 20 12 9 3 2.19 FEB 5 MAR 7.26 +3.58 23 18 6 0 1.08 MAR 23-24 APR 4.51 1.78 24 12 2 1 1.11 APR 23-24 MAY 1.92 -0.55 11 8 1 0 0.59 MAY 12-13 JUN 1.08 -0.62 8 3 0 0 0.47 JUN 15 JUL T -0.65 0 0 0 0 TRACE JUL 20 AUG 0.06 -0.61 1 0 0 0 0.06 AUG 13 SEP 2.38 +0.91 8 5 1 1 1.36 SEP 19-20 OCT 4.57 +1.57 14 6 3 1 2.45 OCT 21-22 NOV 6.44 +0.81 22 19 4 0 0.92 NOV 20 DEC 3.09 -2.40 15 8 3 0 0.50 DEC 19 2017 45.80 +9.77 160 99 33 7 2.45 OCT 21-22 NORMAL 36.03 155 91 19 4 TOTAL SNOWFALL... 9.4 INCHES (NORMAL 4.3 INCHES) PORTLAND WATER YEAR 2016-17 (1 OCT 2015 THROUGH 30 SEP 2016) 51.45 INCHES 15.42 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL ============================================================ 2017 PORTLAND AIRPORT WIND AND PRESSURE DATA... AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST 2017 (NORMAL) DIRECTION SPEED DATE ------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 10.9 9.3 EAST 48 MPH JAN 4 FEB 9.4 8.7 EAST 51 MPH FEB 2 MAR 8.9 7.7 SOUTHWEST 40 MPH MAR 15 APR 8.2 7.1 SOUTHWEST 51 MPH APR 7 MAY 6.3 6.7 NORTHWEST 39 MPH MAY 16 JUN 6.7 7.0 SOUTH 33 MPH JUN 10 JUL 7.2 7.2 NORTHWEST 28 MPH JUL 31 AUG 5.8 6.8 NORTHWEST 26 MPH AUG 25 SEP 5.2 6.2 SOUTHWEST 30 MPH SEP 17 OCT 5.9 6.3 EAST 38 MPH OCT 30 NOV 9.3 8.0 SOUTH 41 MPH NOV 24 DEC 8.6 9.3 EAST 41 MPH DEC 6 2017 7.6 7.5EAST 51 MPH FEB 2 SOUTHWEST 51 MPH APR 7 HIGHEST PRESSURE IN 2017...30.69 INCHES JAN 27 LOWEST PRESSURE IN 2017...29.10 INCHES JAN 20 =============================================================== PORTLAND AIRPORT CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS... OCT 1940 TO 2017 PORTLAND AIRPORT CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON... 1981 TO 2010 =============================================================== DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON ONLINE AT: WEATHER.GOV/PORTLAND