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Washington September 2017 climate summary
Here is the September 2017 climate summary for 24 sites across Washington. The month averaged +2.2 F above normal across Washington with Yakima again being a warm outlier. 15 of 24 sites reported below normal precipitation.
REGION: Washington MONTH: 201709
TAVG and TDPTR: deg F
PCP and PDPTR: inches
TDPTR and PDPTR: departure from 1981-2010 normal
======================================================
ID ENDDAY TAVG TDPTR PCP PDPTR SITENAME
======================================================
EAT 20170930 65.1 0.7 0.02 -0.32 WENATCHEE WA PANGBORN FLD
EPH 20170930 64.6 0.8 0.09 -0.27 EPHRATA WA AIRPORT
OMK 20170930 63.6 1.0 0.10 -0.48 OMAK WA AIRPORT
PDT 20170930 64.6 1.2 0.92 0.35 PENDLETON OR
LWS 20170930 66.3 1.7 0.56 -0.11 LEWISTON ID AIRPORT
MWH 20170930 63.8 1.7 0.12 -0.27 MOSES LAKE WA AIRPORT
OTX 20170930 59.1 1.7 0.69 0.06 SPOKANE WA WFO
PSC 20170930 65.2 1.8 0.13 -0.27 PASCO WA
DEW 20170930 58.2 1.9 0.93 -0.07 DEER_PARK WA AIRPORT
SFF 20170930 62.4 1.9 1.29 0.45 SPOKANE WA FELTS FLD
GEG 20170930 62.2 2.0 1.21 0.54 SPOKANE WA AIRPORT
ALW 20170930 67.3 2.1 0.91 0.16 WALLA WALLA WA
AST 20170930 60.6 2.1 3.15 1.01 ASTORIA OR
HRI 20170930 65.4 2.3 0.29 -0.21 HERMISTON OR
HQM 20170930 61.1 2.4 2.63 0.35 HOQUIAM WA AIRPORT
UIL 20170930 59.1 2.5 3.79 -0.03 QUILLAYUTE WA AIRPORT
VUO 20170930 66.1 2.5 2.56 1.00 VANCOUVER WA
OLM 20170930 61.5 2.6 1.24 -0.47 OLYMPIA WA AIRPORT
SPB 20170930 64.9 3.0 1.51 0.04 SCAPPOOSE OR
PUW 20170930 61.3 3.1 0.68 -0.10 PULLMAN
SEW 20170930 64.9 3.3 1.10 -0.42 SEATTLE WA WFO
SEA 20170930 64.7 3.4 0.59 -0.91 Seattle-Tacoma WA
BLI 20170930 60.9 3.7 1.76 -0.02 BELLINGHAM WA AIRPORT
YKM 20170930 65.2 4.4 0.16 -0.20 YAKIMA WA
REGION: Washington
MONTH: 201709
=============
TDPTR FREQ
=============
1 4
2 13
3 5
4 2
24 sites, 201709 mean monthly temperature: 63.3 deg F
mean departure from normal: 2.2 deg F
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Olympia +0.08 F Warming over past 25 Years
After a warm dry summer this is a good time to take a look at the global warming scorecard for our region. Using Olympia Airport as perhaps our best measure of temperature in the Puget Sound region, we find the following:
50.68 F — Mean temperature 1990 – 1994
50.76 F — Mean temperature Sept 2016 – Aug 2017
We see over the past 25 years the temperature rise in our region has been about +0.08 deg F. The forecast by the U of WA Climate Impacts Group (CIG) in the 1990s was for a temperature rise of +3.1 F by the 2020s. With only 3% of the anticipated warming in hand so far, and with only two years remaining until the start of the 2020s, the climate has a lot of catching up to do. Either that or the Climate Impacts Group forecast will end up being considerably too warm.
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Astoria Airport Temperature Observations
We are fortunate to have two co-located but different temperature sensors observing the temperature at Astoria Airport. Yesterday (11 July 2017) was sunny in Astoria. Over the 7 hours from 10 AM to 5 PM the Astoria ASOS averaged +1.2 deg F higher than observations from the Astoria ESRL temperature sensor. But this morning around sunrise the warm bias had disappeared with the ASOS and ESRL sensors in close agreement.
Both ASOS (on left) and ESRL (on right) co-located sites are shown in this picture looking northwest.
Or cut and paste these coordinates into google maps for a view from above:
46.156919, -123.883069
46.156919, -123.883069
Astoria Oregon on 10 July
After a low temperature of 56, the high temperature yesterday (10 July 2017) at Astoria Airport reached 65.. For 10 July the mean low temperature at the Astoria Airport is nearly identical to that observed in downtown Astoria from 1893-1960, but the high temperature averaged about +2.6 degrees F higher downtown than in recent decades at the airport.
—Date–|———–Temperature(deg F)—————–|-Precip(inches)-|
ydy mmdd mean rlo year mlo mhi rhi year mrng nlo nhi mean freq npcp
————————————————————————–
Astoria Downtown 1893-1960
191 0710 61.2 45 1940 52.8 69.6 93 1908 16.8 62 62 0.04 21% 61
Astoria Airport 1953-2015
Salem Oregon – Record February Precipitation
Salem Oregon reached a new February record high precipitation total of 13.22 inches through 4 PM 26 Feb 2017. Mean Salem precipitation is 4.74 inches in February, based on 124 years of data.
Top 5 February precipitation totals out of past 125 years (1893-2017) at Salem Oregon:
1) 2017* 13.22 inches
2) 1996 13.01
3) 1949 12.31
4) 1940 11.66
5) 1999 11.40
* through 26 Feb 2017
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Sub-Zero cold in eastern Oregon – 7 Dec 2016
Winter has arrived in Oregon! This morning has seen sub-zero temperature readings in eastern Oregon. The temperature at the Crane Prairie RAWS site (CPFO3) east of Seneca plummeted to -15 F this morning after a high yesterday of 24 F. SE of Bend at the Horse Ridge RWIS site (ODT33) the temperature also dropped to -15 F while Meacham ASOS along I-84 in the Blue Mountains recorded a minimum temperature of -11 F.
A new low temperature record of +2 F was established in La Grande along I-84 this morning:
RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 1040 AM PST WED DEC 7 2016 ...NEW DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR DECEMBER 7TH... STATION PREVIOUS NEW RECORDS RECORD/YEAR RECORD BEGAN LA GRANDE(CITY), OR 3 / 1978 2 1887
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Freeze in eastern Oregon – 25 June 2016
The temperature dropped to freezing yesterday morning at 8 RAWS sites in eastern Oregon. But by late yesterday afternoon the temperature had climbed all the way to 80 F at 4 of the 8 sites. The temperature at Burns ASOS dropped to 31 F yesterday, the 5th morning to reach freezing this month (June 2016). CPFO3, Crane Prairie RAWS, where the temperature dropped to 25 F, is located east of Seneca, a notoriously cold location in eastern Oregon.
Oregon RAWS Daily Summaries for 25 June 2016
—————————————————-
Cnty Elev StnID Tave Tmin Tmax Prcp Tdave Nt/Nd
—————————————————-
Grant 5500 CPFO3 52.2 25 75 0 31.9 24/24
Harne 5000 FLFO3 57.6 26 80 0 23.8 24/24
Harne 5172 CWFO3 54.8 28 76 0 29.0 24/24
Harne 5320 ALFO3 54.6 29 76 0 31.8 24/24
Desch 4735 TPEO3 57.3 29 77 0 33.2 24/24
Desch 3231 CGFO3 58.0 30 82 0 37.0 24/24
Klama 4531 KMRO3 58.0 30 80 0 39.3 24/24
Malhe 4460 RTFO3 59.4 31 80 0 27.2 24/24
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Climate of Olympia WA: number of hot days
For Olympia Airport, (1941-2015), I have compiled the number of “hot” days (>= 89 F) per decade. The threshold temperature for a hot day was set to make an annual mean frequency of about 7 days per year.
1940s* 68 days
1950s 69
1960s 76
1970s 76
1980s 81
1990s 78
2000s 70
2010s* 77
* Normalized to 10 years
There was a slight uptick going from the 1950s into the 1960s, but there has been little change over the past 6 decades (since the 1960s) in the number of “hot” days per year.
Years with greatest number of “hot” days at Olympia Airport:
1) 1967 20 days
2) 1958 19
3) 2015 18
4) 1981 17
5) 1985 15
5) 1992 15
5) 2009 15
Years with least number of “hot” days at Olympia Airport:
1) 2011 0 days
1) 1976 0
1) 1964 0
1) 1954 0
2) 1983 1
2) 1966 1
2) 1957 1
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Late June hard freeze in eastern Oregon
Yesterday (19 June 2016) saw the temperature drop to 22 F at the Foster Flat RAWS site (elev 5000 ft) in the Harney Basin south of Burns . This is the coldest temperature so far in the month of June 2016 at Foster Flat. The lowest temperature had been 26 F a week earlier on 12 June 2016.
Picture of Foster Flat RAWS site in June 2006:
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/wraws/pictures/ofos/200606/ofos.NW2.jpg
22 F was followed later in the day by a high of 76 F making for a diurnal range of 54 F just one day removed from the summer solstice. Less than 36 hours after dropping to 22 F the temperature climbed all the way to 83 F the next day (20 June 2016). A total of 11 RAWS sites in Oregon out of 132 total measured temperatures in the 20s yesterday morning at elevations ranging from 3231 to 5500 ft.
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Mid-June 2016 Cold Spell in Oregon
On 15 June 2016, 41 out of 132 RAWS sites in Oregon reported a minimum temperature at or below the freezing point (32 F) with 2 sites in Klamath and Deschutes Counties reporting 23 F. The 850 hPa temperature at Salem Oregon reached a low of -0.1 C at 12 UTC 14 June 2016. This was followed by +0.2 C the next morning at 12 UTC 15 June 2016.
Redmond Oregon reached 24 F on 15 June 2016 which tied the record low temperature for the month of June. This was the third such occurrence over the past 69 years of record.
Lowest June temperatures at Redmond Oregon (1948-2016)
———————————————
1) 24 F on 15 June 2016
2) 24 F on 4 June 1962
3) 24 F on 2 June 1976
4) 25 F on 8 June 2002
5) 26 F on 25 June 2001
6) 26 F on 3 June 2001
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