Washington September 2017 climate summary

Posted on 1 October 2017 by Mark Albright
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

Posted on 26 September 2017 by Mark Albright

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

Posted on 12 July 2017 by Mark Albright
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
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Astoria Oregon on 10 July

Posted on 11 July 2017 by Mark Albright
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
191 0710  60.0  44 1967 52.9 67.0  92 2007 14.1  62  62   0.05  29%   62
For complete climate tables go to here for Astoria downtown and here for Astoria Airport. 
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Salem Oregon – Record February Precipitation

Posted on 26 February 2017 by Mark Albright

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

Posted on 7 December 2016 by Mark Albright

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

Posted on 26 June 2016 by Mark Albright
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

Posted on 24 June 2016 by Mark Albright
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

Posted on 20 June 2016 by Mark Albright

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

Posted on 19 June 2016 by Mark Albright

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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