ANNUAL CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
152 PM PST SUN DEC 31 2017
...SALEM 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. ONE TO 2
INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN AND AROUND SALEM ON THE 2ND, BUT
ACCUMULATIONS WERE HIT AND MISS SO MOST GOT NO SNOW. MORE
SNOW SHOWERS ON THE 4TH BROUGHT SPOTTY 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW
BUT HEAVIER ACCUMULATIONS WERE WELL SOUTH OF SALEM. BUT, IT
WAS COLD ON 5TH TO 6TH, WITH OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES IN THE
LOWER TEENS. THEN CAME A MAJOR WINTER STORM. ON THE 7TH,
3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL ON THE SALEM AND SURROUNDING
AREA, WITH HEAVIEST REPORTED IN SALEM SOUTH HILLS. FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN 30 YEARS, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ORDERED MANDATORY CHAINS ON ALL VEHICLES TRAVELING BETWEEN
WILSONVILLE AND EUGENE ON INTERSTATE 5.
THE SNOW TRANSITIONED TO FREEZING RAIN ON THE 10TH, WITH ICE
ACCUMULATIONS OF 0.50 TO 1.00 INCH. THIS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT
DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES. CLEARING SKIES AND COLD
FOR THE 14TH AND 15TH, WITH OVERNIGHT TEMPS 15 TO 20 DEG.
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,
JANUARY 2017 WAS THE COLDEST JANUARY SINCE 1993.
FEBRUARY...MILD WEATHER CONTINUED, WITH TYPICAL FEB WEATHER.
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. IT WAS THE WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD
FOR SALEM, WITH 13.41 INCHES OF RAIN, SURPASSING THE
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 13.01 INCHES SET BACK IN FEB 1996.
MARCH...RATHER MILD AND WET MARCH, WITH TWICE NORMAL RAINFALL.
BUT MARCH START RATHER COOL, WITH SNOW FALLING TO WEST
OF SALEM AND IN THE TURNER HILLS. AREAS JUST EAST OF
INDEPENDENCE REPORTED 4 TO 6 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW.
RAIN FELL ON 25 DAYS OF THE 31 IN THE MONTH, BUT FELL
2 DAYS SHORT OF THE RECORD 27 DAYS SET BACK IN 2011.
APRIL...A LOT OF THE DAYS IN APRIL HAD RAIN, 22 DAYS TO BE
EXACT. RECORD MOST IS 25 DAYS, SET IN 2003 AND 1993
(NORMAL IN APRIL IS ABOUT 15 DAYS).
A STRONG FRONT PUSHED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE 7TH, WITH
SOUTH WINDS GUSTING 45 TO 60 MPH. 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 101 DEG.
JULY...GREAT SUMMER MONTH. WARM DAYS, WITH 27 DAYS OF HIGHS
OF AT LEAST 80 DEG. FORTUNATELY, NIGHTS WERE COMFORTABLE
WITH MANY OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE 50S. NO RAIN FELL, MAKING
JULY 2017 THE 15TH JULY SINCE 1892 WITH NO RAIN (OTHERS
WERE 2013, 1967, 1952, 1933, 1931, 1929, 1926, 1925, 1922
1914, 1910, 1899, 1896 AND 1893).
AUGUST...NEARLY A CARBON COPY OF JULY, AS WAS VERY WARM.
EACH OF THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF AUGUST SET NEW CALENDAR DAY
HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THEIR DATE. THE HIGH OF 107 DEG
ON 2ND OF AUG WAS ONE DEG SHY OF TYING THE ALL-TIME
WARMEST TEMPERATURE IN SALEM (108). AUGUST FINISHED
AS THE WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD EVER, PASSING PREVIOUS
RECORD HOLDER OF 2014.
RAIN RECORDED ON ONLY 2 DAYS (TRACE ON 11TH, AND 0.14
INCH 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 (ABOVE 100 DEG FOR 1ST TO 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 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 CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY, CREATING UNHEALTHY AIR
QUALITY AT TIMES.
SEPTEMBER...DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS CONTINUED FOR FIRST PART
OF SEPTEMBER. MAIN STORY FOCUSED ON THE SMOKE/WILDFIRES
OF THE CASCADES, SUCH AS WHITEWATER AND REBEL. SMOKE WAS
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.
DURING THE COOLER SHOWERY WEATHER OF THE 17TH TO 23RD,
A THUNDERSTORM ON THE 19TH PRODUCED A TORNADO NEAR
LACOMB. NO ONE WAS HURT, BUT THERE WAS DAMAGE TO SOME
BUILDINGS AND POWERLINES IN AN AREA ABOUT 2 MILES TO
EAST-NORTHEAST OF LACOMB.
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, WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN. AS USUAL
CASE IN OCTOBER, FALLEN LEAVE/CLOGGED DRAINS PRODUCED
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.
SALEM AREA SAW ITS FIRST DRY HALLOWEEN SINCE 2007.
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. OVERALL, RAIN FELL ON NEARLY
EVERY DAY IN NOVEMBER, THOUGH WAS NOT ALL THAT HEAVY.
WARM AIR MASS OVER THE REGION FROM 20TH TO 22ND BROUGHT
HIGHS IN THE 60S, WITH WARMEST BEING 64 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.
THE HIGH PRESSURE MINIMIZED THE MIXING OF THE AIR MASS,
LEADING TO MULTIPLE DAYS WITH 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 12TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD.
==============================================================
NEW RECORDS SET IN 2017 (PREVIOUS RECORD IN PARENTHESES)
+ INDICATES MOST RECENT OF MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES
JANUARY...
6TH TIED. DAILY LOW TEMP 14 ( 14 /1937)
FEBRUARY...
4TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 1.53" ( 1.42"/1937)
5TH NEW. DAILY MAX PRECIPITATION 2.44" ( 2.17"/1996)
RAINFALL FROM 5 FEB WAS THE 5TH WETTEST DAY IN FEBRUARY
SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1892.
FEB NEW. WETTEST FEB ON RECORD 13.41" (13.01"/1996)
MARCH... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
APRIL... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
MAY... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
JUNE... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
JULY... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
AUGUST...
1ST NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 101 ( 100 /2015)
2ND NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 107 ( 102 /1939)
3RD NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 103 ( 102 /1952)
AUG NEW. WARMEST AUG EVER. AVG T OF 73.0 ( 72.5 /2014)
SEPTEMBER...
3RD NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 98 ( 96 /1949+)
SEP NEW. 2ND WARMEST SEP ON RECORD.
OCTOBER...
27TH TIED. DAILY HIGH TEMP 74 ( 74 /2003)
NOVEMBER...
21ST NEW. DAILY HIGH TEMP 63 ( 61 /1933)
DECEMBER... NO NEW RECORDS SET.
===============================================================
2017 SALEM MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RANKINGS
THIS SHOWS WHERE A MONTH/YEAR RANKS IN SALEMS 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 110 56 28 61 27 16 12 1 2 54 19 83 15
PRECIP 69 1 11 10 71 93 126 73 29 18 53 117 11
MAX T 106 83 63 97 30 34 16 2 22 44 36 64 17
MIN T 117 38 7 30 31 8 34 4 2 64 18 103 23
===============================================================
2017 SALEM 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 43.1 29.5 36.3 -4.9 DEG 56 /18TH 14 / 6TH
FEB 49.7 36.3 43.0 -0.1 DEG 60 / 9TH 29 /25TH
MAR 55.1 40.9 48.0 +1.1 DEG 64 /21ST 32 /19TH
APR 59.5 41.4 50.5 +0.1 DEG 69 /21ST 31 / 3RD
MAY 70.5 46.2 58.3 +2.1 DEG 91 /23RD 37 /15TH+
JUN 76.0 52.8 64.4 +2.8 DEG 101 /24TH 44 / 5TH
JUL 86.0 54.2 70.1 +2.5 DEG 95 /31ST 50 /21ST+
AUG 89.0 57.1 73.0 +5.4 DEG 107 / 2ND 49 /25TH+
SEP 79.2 53.4 66.3 +3.7 DEG 98 / 3RD+ 42 /21ST
OCT 65.1 42.8 54.0 +0.8 DEG 75 / 6TH 32 /31ST
NOV 54.2 41.3 47.8 +2.3 DEG 64 /22ND 30 / 7TH
DEC 47.1 32.0 39.6 -0.5 DEG 58 / 6TH 22 /11TH+
2017 64.6 44.0 54.3 +1.3 DEG 107 /AUG 2 14 /JAN 6
NORMAL 63.6 42.5 53.0
DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES IN 2017 WHERE...
|------ MAXIMUM TEMP --------||------ MINIMUM TEMP ---|
<=32 60+ 70+ 80+ 90+ 100+ <=20 <=32 60+ 70+
--------------------------------------------------------------
JAN 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 18 0 0
FEB 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
MAR 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
APR 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
MAY 0 25 17 8 1 0 0 0 0 0
JUN 0 30 20 10 3 1 0 0 0 0
JUL 0 31 31 27 9 0 0 0 0 0
AUG 0 31 31 27 14 3 0 0 10 0
SEP 0 29 23 14 6 0 0 0 7 0
OCT 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
NOV 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
DEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0
2017 2 193 130 86 33 4 5 47 17 0
NORMAL 1 197 124 59 15 1 3 50 4 0
FIRST/LAST OCCURRENCES OF... IN 2017 NORMAL
LAST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN SPRING APR 3 (APR 19)
FIRST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 3 (MAR 31)
FIRST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 3 (MAY 9)
FIRST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR MAY 22 (JUN 3)
LAST 90+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 12 (SEP 8)
LAST 80+ DEG OF THE YEAR SEP 28 (SEP 30)
LAST 70+ DEG OF THE YEAR OCT 28 (OCT 20)
FIRST 32 DEG OR COLDER IN FALL OCT 31 (OCT 24)
==============================================================
2017 SALEM 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 5.40 -0.56 14 10 5 0 1.45 JAN 17-18
FEB 13.41 +8.85 21 17 10 4 2.53 FEB 4-5
MAR 7.69 +3.70 25 20 5 0 1.35 MAR 14-15
APR 4.42 +1.61 22 17 1 0 0.73 APR 25-26
MAY 1.64 -0.58 9 7 1 0 0.54 MAY 11
JUN 0.74 -0.81 7 3 0 0 0.35 JUN 7-8
JUL 0.00 -0.46 0 0 0 0 0.00 -
AUG 0.15 -0.30 1 1 0 0 0.15 AUG 13
SEP 2.36 +1.08 8 4 2 0 1.06 SEP 18-19
OCT 5.45 +2.42 15 8 5 2 2.37 OCT 21-22
NOV 6.57 +0.07 24 17 2 1 1.10 NOV 15
DEC 3.08 -3.76 14 7 3 0 0.74 DEC 19
2017 50.91 +11.24 160 111 34 7 2.53 FEB 4-5
NORMAL 39.67 144 91 25 6
SALEM WATER YEAR 2016-17 (1 OCT 2016 THROUGH 30 SEP 2017)
59.91 INCHES WHICH IS 19.44 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
============================================================
2017 SALEM WIND AND PRESSURE DATA...
AVERAGE SPEED (MPH) STRONGEST WIND GUST
MONTH 2017 NORMAL DIRECTION SPEED DATE
----------------------------------------------------------
JAN 6.2 7.1 SOUTH 48 MPH JAN 18
FEB 7.1 6.9 SOUTH 38 MPH FEB 9
MAR 8.9 7.4 SOUTH 41 MPH MAR 7
APR 7.6 6.9 SOUTH 60 MPH APR 7
MAY 5.9 6.4 WEST 35 MPH MAY 16
JUN 6.6 6.5 SOUTH 37 MPH JUN 15
JUL 6.7 6.5 NORTH 27 MPH JUL 23
AUG 5.4 6.0 NORTH 23 MPH AUG 19
SEP 5.2 5.5 SOUTH 27 MPH SEP 18
OCT 5.8 5.7 SOUTH 41 MPH OCT 21
NOV 7.7 7.1 SOUTHWEST 47 MPH NOV 26
DEC 6.0 7.1 SOUTH 39 MPH DEC 19
2017 6.6 6.6 SOUTH 60 MPH APR 7
HIGHEST PRESSURE IN 2017...30.68 INCHES JAN 27
LOWEST PRESSURE IN 2017...29.07 INCHES JAN 20
=============================================================
SALEM CLIMATE PERIOD OF RECORDS... 1892 TO 2017
SALEM CLIMATE NORMALS BASED ON... 1981 TO 2010
=============================================================
DATA COMPILED BY ROCKEY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
ONLINE AT: WEATHER.GOV/PORTLAND
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