May Felt Chilly, but it Wasn't

This last month was a bit cloudier than normal and I think that led me to "feel" like it was a chilly May. it wasn't in fact it was quite the opposite. Overnight lows averaged a balmy +3° and daytime temps were slightly warmer than average. It was a about normal for the rain bucket as well with a little less than my average of 3.25 inches. May ended with thunderstorms over the weekend resulting in enough rain to push my station to near normal. June begins with the warm rays of El Sol, but don't be lured in by the Siren of Spring, T-storms and showers will return.

On the temps the chilliest measure I got was a nippy 37.5° on the morning of the 4th. The coolest afternoon high was 56.4° on the 14th. I did mange to top 90° for the first time in 2020 when the merc produced a warm 90.7° on the 28th. The warmest overnight low was a a rather summer-like 59.4° on the 29th of course following the month's high. That 90.7° mark was the only day that manged to reach into the realm of "hot" aside from that day the month produced four additional days above 80° and a total of 10 days above 70°. There was just the one morning under 40° but there was ten more that dipped into the 40s.

May produced 3.00 inches of rain at my station measured against my typical 3.25 inches. The wettest day was 0.39 on the 15th which was one of six days with more than 1/4 inch. We had 15 days with measurable precipitation and 4 days of mostly sunshine. In a nutshell, that was a warm and cloudy month.

June is here and miss spring will fight hard to dazzle us with her moody attitude but in a few weeks the glorious summer will arrive delivering weeks on end of beautiful sunshine that should shine upon us with little interruption until mid-September.

Get outside keeping your distance of course, and soak up the sunshine for the next few days. Look at all that glistening snow on the high Cascade peaks. Yes indeed soak it up.

Hello Summer :)

The month of June has retired for 2018 and now summer is really here. Over the course of the next 75 days we shall enjoy the finest weather mother earth has to offer. We earn it every year.

Miss Spring was her typical self this June with some tears, hot flashes, and temper tantrums. Glad that's over, let the summer commence!

June was pretty typical actually with a near dead on average temps over the course of the month. I had an average daily low at 52.45° just a tiny tick above "normal" and the Highs came in at 72.43° also a tick above. Although normal is a collection of extremes as Pat Timm has always pointed out in his weather columns, we didn't have too many "extremes" last month.

The warmest day was the 24th when I read 87.6° one of only three days above 85° all month. The warmest overnight low came in on the 20th with a 61.9° and nearly matched again the next night. The chilliest temp came on the 12th with a 42.1° mark and there was one day that failed to reach 60° and that was the 10th with a very march like 55°.

June gave us 15 days that were mostly sunny and 8 days with some rain. I had several days with thunderstorms including a few short but heavy downpours. We got 4 days above 80° and 17 days above 70°.

Despite some serious downpours, all but one of them were too short to really do much to the rain gauge. The wettest day was the 9th with 0.55 inches and that was the only day above 0.25 inches. Despite the 8 "rainy" days I only managed to collect 1.37 inches of rain and that is another sub-par month. Just 13.99 inches in the bucket at the halfway point and that's a touch under HALF my rolling average.

We are in for a dangerous fire season so please be careful out there. We are about to enter the start of a 60 day period where it is not at all uncommon to have ZERO precipitation. I average about an inch of rain in each of the two summer months, but I have also recorded several July months and August months with no rain at all.

I wouldn't mind having a couple of days in both July and August with a quarter inch or more in the bucket, just to keep things greenish.

So there you have it, the start of the greatest summer on Earth so you drop the top, don the shorts and tanks, and go soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Hello June, how about some rain?

June the last month of spring and the herald of summer. It's here, it's live, it's right now. But the elephant in the room cannot be ignored. My rain bucket and every other rain gauge in the Portland Metro Area was bone dry last month. It was dry even by JULY standards! I measured a sparse 0.12 inches of precipitation all in scattered shower form. My 16 year average for May is 3.25 inches. Holy Arizona Batman, we're turning into a desert! Well this is the driest May in some 80 years. But the real story isn't just the anomalous May, but this whole year is well under average precipitation. Since the start of the year, I have accumulated 12.62 inches of precipitation including the water content of nearly 9 inches of snowfall. That is on HALF of the established normal for the first five months of the year. I am actually hoping for a soggy June. I didn't want to say the "D" word yet, but if June doesn't produce some above average rainfall, drought isn't far off.

I had 22 sunny or mostly sunny days, just ONE day with any "real" rain, the 10th had 0.07 inches, light showers at worst. We really need some rain my friends, and that is not something we generally have to ask for in these parts.

So was May filled with warm and hot days to compliment the desert dry conditions? Well... not really. There was the warmest day of the year thus far on May 14th when the merc popped out an 87.1° which was one of four 80 plus days. Nary a 90 in sight however. Both the average low and high temp came in about 3 degrees warmer than my 16 year average for May at 50.75° and 71.61° respectively. That is "warm" but there was no major heatwave or extended period of super warm temps. Other than the lack of water falling from the sky and the generally sunny conditions, this was a typical May with some cool days, some average days, and a few really warm days. I think the 3 degree pop was likely due to the outrageous amount of solar warming we got. May is typically a cloudy month with a couple of sunny days, this last month was Southern California sunny. It isn't much of a stretch to say that sunny days tend to warm up more than cloudy ones in late spring.

The warmest overnight low came in on the 24th with a July like low of 57° and the chilliest afternoon was May Day with a nippy 57.9° high. There was really only one morning that was genuinely chilly for late spring, May 2nd barely stayed out of the 30s with a 40.1° low reading. The last 30 days of the month all had no problem getting into the 60s. Nearly half of the month managed to stay above 50° all day and night.

So the outlook for June and Portland's Rose Festival seems to look good with mostly warm and dry conditions. I wouldn't count out a soaking rain sometime in June. We have a reputation to uphold here, and we need to temper the flow of Californians moving to region with some 'disturbing' late spring rainfall ;)





 

The Autumn Wind is Coming...

Sounds like an old NFL Films intro for the Oakland Raiders. However this is a a weather blog, not a sports column so that title is more fact than fiction. It is autumn and the cool winds are coming.

September is in the books and it was a tad warmer than my local 16 year average. We saw the average daily high at 75.29° about a degree warmer than normal and the average low came in at 53.22° nearly two above. The warmest day was the 2nd with 94.8° which was one of three days above ninety all in a row to lead off the month. The chilliest temp came on the night of the 24th with a chilly but not cold 43.3°

We had a very toasty overnight low of 67.3° on the morning of the 5th which was one of 5 nights in a row that failed to dip under 60 degrees. September 20th managed on 57.7 degrees for the high one of two days that could get to 60 degrees.

The water story was pretty much an average affair with the bucket picking up 2.23 inches against a typical September normal of 2.47 inches. 16 days saw mostly sunny skies and just 6 days had precipitation that exceeded 0.03 inches. We had a solid soaker on the 19th when 1.4 inches fell one of only two days with more than a 1/4 inch of rain.

Looking ahead to October it seems like cooler than average is on the horizon for the first part of the month. Autumn is here and with it rapid changes in temperature is assured. By the end of the month we will struggle to get to the mid-50s. Cool and crisp weather with gusty breezes await us as the trees turn bright and the holidays approach.

Soak it up my friends, soak it up.

June is Gone and Summer has Arrived!

The first official day of summer has come and gone and so has the month of June. Here in the Northwest June is tends to be a spring month, not a summer month. June did bring with it some very summery weather including the hottest day I have recorded since the all time record high was set back in July of 2009. That was also the first triple digit heat I have recorded in nearly two years, the last time was, July 30th, 2015.

After a cooler than average trend that began in December last year and continued through last month, June emerged a tad warmer than average and a touch on the dry side as well.

June produced two days in excess of 90° at my location including that scorcher on the 25th when the mercury when stratospheric at 103.6°. That toasty warm daytime high was helped by a relatively warm overnight low of 63.1°. That was the warmest overnight low of the year. Despite the blistering heat mark set last month June was not without its chilly moments. True to form, the late spring weather did produce four nights in the 40s including the chilliest night on the 5th when the bottom came at 43°. The coldest daytime high arrived on the 12th when I failed to reach 60° for the first of two sub 60s in a row. The 12th was 58.1° followed by a crisp 59.4° on the 13th. June gave us 17 days above 70°, seven of which busted out over 80°, two days above 90°, and the aforementioned single day above 100°.

Rainfall came in light of my 16 year "normal" but well within typical June fluctuations. The bucket caught 1.46 inches of rain. June had some scattered thunderstorm activity that probably pushed nearby stations well above 2 inches, but my station seemed to avoid those downpours this time 'round. The soggiest day came on the 15th when I saw 0.51 inches and that was one of just two days where I recorded more than 1/4 inch.

The ever so fickle, Miss Spring was in control of June with bouts of both chilly and hot weather. We enjoyed a delicious 16 days of sunshine against just 8 days of rain, most of which was drizzly in nature. Heading into July it looks like we will have rather typical summer weather for the next several days. The NWS in Portland has this forecast this morning.



The metro Portland-Vancouver region enjoys some of the best summer weather on this planet. Temps don't like to get above ninety much and triple digits are worthy of front page headlines. We simply bask in mildly warm, mostly sunny days for the next 75 days or so.

Summer has arrived so soak it up my friends, soak it up.

November Soggy and Mild

2016 is taking it's final lap as the month of November is retired to history. November was pretty warm overall and seasonally soggy. I have never recorded a 70 degree mark in the month of November and that is still the case but we did tease it a bit with a 68.4 reading on the 4th of the month.

Between the record wet October and this seasonally typical November I have recorded nearly a foot and a half of rain in the last 60 days!

On the temperature side of the weather, that 68.4 was the warmest and the coldest mark I had was 34.3 degrees on the 18th and that means I still have NOT recorded a subfreezing temperature. I did briefly accumulate some ice on my car's windshield on that very night so I have recorded a frost. This year will be the latest for the first seasonal sub-freezing temperature in the 16 years I have been recording at this locale. In fairness, we haven't had a continuously clear night in a long while. The warmest overnight low came on the 5th when the mercury bottomed out at a balmy 52.5. The coolest afternoon high was a seasonal cool, 45.3 degrees on the 27th. Overall the average observed temperatures were 44.8 and 55.19 against my 16 year "normal" of 38.42 and 50.98. That was a toasty November!

As for precipitation it was seasonally pretty typical. I measured a satisfying 7.67 inches in the bucket against a normal 7.98 inches. Nary a flake of snow fell but that is really not unusual at all for November as the last 16 Novembers have had 9 without any snow, 2 with just a trace, and the remaining 5 having some legit snow ranging from 1-3 inches. The rainiest day came about on the 24th when a monsoonal 2.24 inches fell which was one of two days exceeding an inch and 7 days over a quarter. 21 days saw .03 or more and just two days could be called sunny. Yeah, it was November ;)

The local prognosticators are calling for a mass of chilly air to drop down out of Canada and the Gulf or Alaska next week and snow is in the forecast. Hard to say, some feel it will be limited to 1000 feet and higher but others think that we may get isolated, localized snow showers all the way down to sea level. We shall see, but one thing is for sure, December on average is the coldest month of the year and the second snowiest month of the year behind January. La Niña is supposedly in place and that does mean cooler ocean temperatures and a little less effective marine influence on local snowfall.

If it is gonna snow, isn't December the better month for it anyhow? Ho, Ho, Ho, let's have some snow!

Get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

April Roller Coaster

The month of April has moved to the history file and what a roller coaster ride it was. We had a sub-par rain month and fairly average daytime highs save for two monster spikes into the hot, even for July, category.

May will start out with a nice summer-like warm day into the 80s. The week begins with some July love but quickly will turn back to spring showers and some minor t-boomers later in the week.

As for April how about those heat waves. Seriously, a heat wave in April is not unusual but notable, but two heat waves in April, WOW! Daily records were falling like autumn leaves this past month.

The high for the month came on the 18th with a personal all time April mark of 91.6 and that appears to have been the all time April mark for the 'Couv' dating back to the 19th century! That was the only 90 plus mark for the month, of course. That 91.6 came second in a series of four consecutive days above 80 degrees. That was second group of 80 plus days the first group a back to back pair on the 7th and 8th with a near 90 mark of 88.7 on the 7th. 2016 begins rather ominously as last year was a record for 90 plus days in many Greater Portland Metro communities. I had 18 90 'plussers' last year about double my local average. The first of those 18 came in June and this year I have one logged already in April. Oh boy. The warmest overnight low did not follow the hot 91.6 day, but came on the morning of the 20th with a mark of 50.9 degrees.

On the chilly side of the month there isn't much to report. In fact not a single morning was below the ice making mark. The coolest came on the morning of the 16th with a chilly but not at all uncommon 36.3 degrees one of just four mornings that managed to chill into the 30s. Every single day in the month of April was able to warm above the 50 degree comfort mark with the chilliest afternoon the 14th hitting 51.6 degrees.

Overall April 2016 was much warmer than average. the observed average low was a hefty 3.5 degrees above my established norms and the observed highs were a crazy 7 degrees warmer than average thanks to not one, but two heat waves.

Rainfall was well under normal for me with a dry 2.21 inches in the bucket against my more typical 4.24 inches. We had a few days with thunderstorms and some localized heavy rain was present. That should create wide variances in rainfall totals at local weather stations. The rain for the year has been solid with a four month start of 20.58 inches and a season to date (Oct, 2015 to date) of a dripping wet 49.66 inches. Holy soggy soil Batman, that's a whole bunch of water!

There is a heavy layer of snow on the high Cascade peaks but very little remains on the local foothills. In fact there is just one tiny little patch clinging to life on the very tip of Silver Star (4364 ft). There is a good chance that won't survive the next two days. As for late season skiing? It should be solid, Timberline lodge is reporting a May 1st base at the lodge (6000 ft) of 121 inches. Up higher the last Snow Cat data about a month ago reported over 67 FEET of snow depth at Bean's Run (7326 feet).

Let's all shout out a welcome to the merry month of May. There is a high probability that freezing weather is firmly planted in the rear view mirror and that warmer days lie ahead. May is almost as fickle as March and April so we likely won't finish this month without some noteworthy weather bumps, but the gorgeous days of summer now await on the near horizon.

Warm-Tober

That was a pretty warm October. No record breaking events but definitely toasty and that has just been the case all year long. The average daily high for October, 2015 was a smoking 6.5 degrees above my 15 year "normal" and the overnight lows averaged three and a half degrees over as well. This was not due to an anomalous heat wave skewing the average, in fact, just one day recorded a temperature above 80 degrees.  No it was just really mild and that typical Autumn plunge just never materialized.

If October is a precursor to our winter we can expect a classic El Nino with warmer than average temperatures and drier than average conditions. But harbinger-smarbinger, last year we had the earliest sticking snow in my 15 years of record keeping when a one inch dusting stuck and stayed for a few days beginning on the 13th of November. Some precursor that was, it ended up being the only snowfall for the whole season!

October finished up with an average daily high of 65.93 degrees and an average overnight low of 48.82 degrees. The warmest day came on the 5th when the mercury hit 83.8 and the coolest temperature was the 23rd when it dipped to 37.9 which was the only sub 40 mark all month. The coolest afternoon was the 28th with a mild 54.5 and the warmest overnight low came on the 27th with a near summer-like 57.5. In total 18 days stayed above 50 degrees overnight and 25 days had high temperatures at 60 or more degrees.

Rainfall was deceptive. Up until and through the 30th of the month a mere inch and three quarters had fallen into the gauge. Nearly two inches more fell on the soggiest Halloween I can remember saving the month from a desert dry finish and bringing the total to near normal at 3.77 inches which is about 85% of normal for my location. Just 7 days with measurable precipitation and only 5 over .25 inch. The wettest was of course Halloween with that monsoonish 1.96 inches.

I have yet to yield a frost and haven't gotten any where near a freeze yet this season. It is quite likely that the first frost will in fact come in November as I have certainly never gone to December without achieving the first frost. In fact my records show that subfreezing weather has always occurred by the end of November to start the winter season.

So get ready for an interesting and potentially wild November, because September and October were truly mild to the point of dull, and I don't think it's possible for three dull weather months in a row, here in America's Vancouver.

September is Toast : Hello Autumn

So the last of the summer has rode off into the sunset. Sure October can flash an 80 degree day... occasionally, but probably not. No my friends Autumn is upon us and although this last summer was very feisty I doubt she'll muster much more in the way of heat. Having said that there has been a precedent for a 90 degree day in October but you have go back to the days when a Mullet was fashionable to find it. Just say no to the Mullet and no to 90s in October.

September turned out to be a pretty standard fare with one day popping up over the 90 degree mark and a few days that failed to reach 60 degrees. Our very first 30s appeared for the season towards the end of the month and that is all pretty routine. Over all the month was a tad on the warm side trending with the rest of the summer this year. As has been the case all year long rain was light with a little more than have the normal amount hitting the bucket.

The warmest day was the 11th with a mark of 91.4 degrees and as mentioned the only 90 plus day. That was however the 18th day of 2015 that busted through the 90 barrier, which is about double the usual number for a calendar year at my station. The warmest temperature overnight was a mild 57.7 degrees on the 12th of course the evening following the 91.4 high so that fits like the proper puzzle piece. The coldest temperature came on the morning of the 28th when the mercury dropped into the 30s for the second time in September to a chilly 39.3 degrees. The coolest afternoon high came on the 6th under showery skies with 57.9 degrees. This was one of two days this past month that could gather enough strength to hit 60 degrees.

Overall the average daily high was 74.1 degrees about 2 over and the average low came in at 49.82 about 1.5 over. really this was a garden variety September.

On the water side, rainfall was light. It is not unusual for July, August and September to be dry, in fact they typically are. April, May and June however were very dry this year so we could have used a little extra this past month. No such luck would be had as the bucket showed 1.39 inches when a typical mark would be 2.47. The wettest day came on the 17th when a soggy 0.69 inches fell. This was one of 7 days with measurable rain. Only two managed to bring us more than a 1/4 inch. I had 19 days with mostly sunny skies and no frost.  

August is done, is that Autumn I see peeking over the fence?

Many people enjoy a good long summer. And a good long one we have had. Generally this part of the country sees 75 days of summer starting around the first of July and ending in early September. But this year our warm and dry weather began all the way back in May! It was well above average in terms of temperatures and well below in terms of rain. Nirvana for some and for others it's "Hey Autumn come on over, Summer has worn out its welcome".

August was a bit warmer than average but not as warm as July. Temps ran just a couple of degrees on the upside both overnight and by day. Average daily high for the month was 82.22 and the average low came in at 57.73 degrees, 2.2 and 1.3 degrees above normal, respectively.

The heat monster maxed out at 96.4 degrees on the first day of the month, following a short triple digit episode at the end of July. This was one of three days last month that breached the 90 degree barrier. That is about normal for August. The coldest temperature recorded was a nippy for summer, 49.2 on the 22nd one of two evenings to drop into the 40s. The coolest afternoon high came on the 30th under blustery and wet conditions and was the only day that failed to reach 70 degrees with measly 67.2 measured. The balmiest night was a comfortable 65.1 on the 12th.

The drier than average trend has continued with August posting 0.81 inches compared to my typical 1.27 inches. July and August are often very dry so it is of no consequence like it was in May and June to have these conditions. The wettest day came on the 29th when 0.31 inches fell.

Overall the month of august was actually pretty typical if not just a tad on the warm side. One can only hope that the fall will bring with it some much needed rain and may the winter bring a healthy snow pack to our abnormally barren peaks.

Get out and soak up the last of summer my friends, soak it up!    

Monday was warmest day of year!

All the weather prognosticators were calling for an 80 degree mark on Monday and I sure got close but no cigar. Some locations locally achieved the milestone but I registered a 78.6 degree mark. That was good enough to be the warmest so far this year.

After all that warm weather over the winter, I figured 80 would have come in March. It looks like it may have to wait until May.

It's all good though mid to upper 70s is fine by me :)

Get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

It's Snowing Outside!

April Fools!

It is definitely not snowing outside today nor in fact has it snowed at all this year! Frozen precipitation this time of year tends to arrive in form of hail from thunderstorms. We had some of that over the last few days for sure and more will likely arrive locally today.

March is in the books and it was a bit of a roller coaster ride which is par for the course in what is generally the most tumultuous month of the year.

The mighty month of March delivered to us out first 70 degree temperature of the year and the first since October 17th. That glorious 71.9 was the first and only 70 thus far and it came on the 27th. But March was not shy about playing in the sixties as that happened 17 times! This was overall a balmy little March with an average high of 61.35 degrees nearly 7 degrees above my 13 year average! As is true with most late winter early spring transitions, there was some chilly temps as well. I observed a slightly warmer than normal average overnight low of 40.58 and 1.5 degrees higher than typical. The chilliest night came early in the month, no surprise there. A 27.3 degree low on the 4th was one of only 4 subfreezing days and only 2 in the 20s. The warmest minimum temperature came on the 14th when the coldest it got was toasty 51.4 and the chilliest afternoon was also a balmy 53.7. This is the first March I have recorded in 13 years at this location where all 31 days broke the fifty degree mark.

Precipitation was a little on the light side with 4.86 inches in the bucket against my average for March of 5.52. There was no frozen precipitation aside from a few bouts of hail from highly localized thunderstorms. In fact, nearly half of the precipitation fell on just two days, the 14th and 15th where 1.35 inches came on 14th followed by .90 inches the next day. March was kind enough to deliver 14 sunny days and just 11 with rain.

Looking forward to the rest of the week should be mostly showery with isolated thunderstorms. April is here and the big question is: will she deliver us our first 80 degree mark? we shall see; in the mean time, get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Another Warm Winter Month in the Books

February continued this winter's trend of warmer conditions as the chart show those FIVE days above 60 degrees quite well and the real shocker is that 24 of the 28 days of this past February saw the mercury push past 50 degrees. Perhaps even more surprising was the fact that I recorded only two sub-freezing temperatures all month.

All that warm sunnylicious goodness came at the expense of rain where I saw a well under average 4.17 inches.

A closer look at the month's statistics reveals the deliciously unseasonable nature of this winter. The warmest day was a very nice and cozy 64.7 degrees on the 17th one of three 60 plus days in a row and five 60 plus days on the month! The chilliest overnight low was a modest 29.3 degrees on the 24th. We had a few overnight lows that tickled the 50 mark the warmest of which was 49.8 on both the 6th and 7th. These were two of the 12 days with warm low temps in the 40s. The nippiest afternoon high came on the first day of the month with a mild 44.6 degree reading which is pretty close to normal for early February at my house. Looking at the temperatures across the whole of the month I was five degrees above normal for overnight lows with a month observed average coming in at 39.67 degrees against my 14 year normal of 34.76. The daytime highs were nearly 6 degrees above my normal of 49.41 as I observed an average 55.49 degrees.

On my website I post a 90 day trend chart and the last 90 days has absolutely zero snowfall. December, January and February without so much as a flurry? WOW! As for precipitation for February I mention that I recorded and under normal 4.17 inches, which is not drought numbers by any measure but low none-the-less. The wettest day was the 7th with 0.80 inches falling, the last of three straight days of steady rain over 0.50 inches. I had six days with more than 0.25 inches and 11 days with measurable rain. It is not very often in Western Washington that you get more sun than rain but I had 12 sunny days :)

March is coming in like the proverbial lamb as I am typing this under brilliant sunshine at as the mercury is nudging its way towards fifty degrees at 11 in the morning. So will the fickle month of March bring us any more snow for this season? Honestly you really never know. All the long term forecasts are suggesting that March will continue the mild streak we have had since January. If that pans out I'll end up with a paltry 1.1 inches of snow on the season which is well under my 14 year average of 9.37 inches. That is really not too unusual, Western Washington routinely has winters with very little snow and rarely has a winter with more than 12 inches. All of you snow-haters can relax, looks like you will have a reprieve until next winter. So go outside and soak it up my friends, soak it up.
 

January and Football are Both Done!

What a super bowl game that was yesterday huh? That marked the end of the football season and this weekend put the first weather month of 2015 in the books as well.

This somewhat warm winter continues with above average temps for January. The average low ran 3 degrees above normal with 35.36 and the daily average high ran nearly 5 above at 48.71. That is a January average daily high of darn near 50 degrees. What is this, Northern California? No it is not, but the weather is sure trying to fake us out. We managed to hit a downright toasty 62.2 degrees on the 24th and that is the warmest January temperature I have recorded in January since I started keeping records in 2001. It is also only the second 60 plus reading in January over that time period. We had a mild 46.2 overnight low on the 28th which was the warmest of the month. The coldest temperature reading came on New Year's Day with a 19.5 degree reading which is legitimately chilly but no where near a record for the date. The coldest daytime high was a mild 39.3 degrees on the 2nd of January also no where near any records. January delivered 9 days with sub freezing temps and an amazing 13 days with highs above 50 degrees!

On the rainfall front we were kind of dry. I measured just 3.62 inches which is about half of a typical January. I did have one drenching deluge on the 17th when 1.9 inches came down. I did observe a few days with mixed precipitation but nary a flake of snow that stuck to the ground. That early dusting in mid November remains the only sticking snow of the season.

January was a warm month but weather-wise it was rather uneventful. Get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Warm and Sunny...In January!

Yesterday my mercury topped out over 60 degrees! That high mark at 3pm hit 62.2 and was a personal record for that date with my previous record high for a January 24th coming in at 57 degrees. We had several National Weather Service records fall around the area as well. A toasty warm day in January is not unprecedented, but it is unusual. This whole winter save for a few weeks of nippy cold, has been quite mild.

We still have two months of winter to go and you never know, it could turn chilly on us. Don't get too comfy in those shorts and tee-shirts just yet.

While we have go ahead and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

The Warm Winter Continues

I can't say if we will get cold again this year or not? Temps have been running consistently 5 plus degrees above normal and I don't see a change. You never know, and Arctic air mass could drop down from the North anytime. While we wait for that to happen, just get outside and soak it up my friends, soak it up. I am in the upper forties with big, bold sunshine beaming down from the heavens.

Happy New Year!

2015 has arrived! OK it is January second and I suppose you figured that out already. I would like to wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year.

December 2014 was a balmy month, I mean way above average on the temperatures. The observed average high for the last month of 2014 was 47.13 degrees nearly 5 above my 13 year average at this location. The observed average low last month was a toasty 37.79 more than five above my 13 year average. Hopefully I'll smile when I get my heating bill for December.

December started off by continuing a very chilly cold snap that ended November. The first two days of the month had lows of 19.7 and 21 respectively and daytime highs of 27.4 and 36.1. Hey it was December, no big deal. But then the next 26 days were essentially a winter heat wave! The month managed to close out properly as the 30th and 31st recorded lows of 20.4 and 18.6 respectively and highs in the mid thirties. Now that is more like winter.

The coldest low occurred on the last day of the month with that aforementioned 18.6 mark. That was no where near any records but legitimately chilly. The warmest temperature came on the 11th with 58.8 degrees. Well shy of my December record of 59.9 but the warmest December 11th I have yet to record at this location. The coldest daytime high temperature came on the very first day of the month with that 27.4 mark and the warmest overnight low occurred on the 21st. Longest night, warmest temp? That's weird; I didn't see that coming.

This last December was unusual in that I recorded 16 days where the low temperature was up in the 40s! I only had 5 days with a sub freezing mark and 5 days with highs below 40 degrees. well the jury doesn't have to deliberate long on this case, December 2014 was a warm month.

The rainfall was a little light for a December but a still adequate amount of 6.24 inches landed in the gauge. I tend to get around 8 inches in December. We had one really wet day where 1.15 inches splashed down on the 20th. The month was a bit cloudy overall with just 6 days of sunshine and 19 days with at least some rain.

December had a few bouts with wind as we did in November. I lost two fences this season!

Year end stats go like this...

Days lo<32	44
Days lo<20	5
Days lo>40	234
Days lo<50	221
Days lo>60	23
days hi>100	0
Days hi>90	13
Days hi>60	188
Days hi<50	80
Days hi<40	17
Days hi<32	5
Days sunny	158
Days rainy	139
Days Snow/Ice	9
Total Snowfall	12.20
Average Low	46.05
Average High	63.10
Max Temp	98.4
Min Temp	18.6
Wettest Day	2.01
Days >.24 Rain	64
Tot Precipitation	47.83

Get and soak it up my friends; soak it up.

If it Doesn't Get Cold Soon...

If it doesn't get cold soon, this could become the warmest December I have on record since 2002. We haven't had any record breaking heat, but it has been very warm overnight all month. The last time the mercury dropped below the freezing mark was way back on the 3rd of the month! I am running several degrees above normal both day and night thus far this month by the averages.

This is bordering on twilight zone crazy here ;)

The NWS and other weather prognosticators are suggesting a move toward more seasonal temps but unless we get a few really cold days before the New Year this could be the warmest December I have had yet at this location.

Stayed tuned and hey, while we have this warm weather you may as well soak it up, my friends; soak it up.

Warm and Wet will Persist

Looks like this is going to remain a cozy warm December. I have been sitting quite balmy with temps in the mid to upper fifties. Nights are not much cooler dipping only into the forties. The rain is falling and the merry month of December may not yield any fluffy white precipitation this year. That makes some people really happy. Not me, I like it cold in the winter.

Things may chill out in a week or so in time for the Holidays, we shall see. In the mean time get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up!

Some Sunnyliciousness is coming...

Take a look at this forecast! Finally; we might see some sunshine. Doesn't that just break your heart? We have been in a rainy mess for weeks on end and now that proverbial light is shining at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully it is not the light of an oncoming train.

We have been quite warm however, so far this autumn. I have yet to record a sub freezing temperature and I haven't even recorded a sub 40 degree temp yet. That has never happened this late in my 13 years at this location. November 7th and still not a single temp reading in the thirties? Wow! We have had a freight train of storms coming in, often packing sub-tropical moisture. October was very wet and November may follow suit. All of that said, it will get cold here real soon. Get out and enjoy up this bit of sunshiny goodness over the next several days, it will end.

Soak it up my friends, soak it up.