NOUS46 KPQR 101737 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 940 AM PST MON JAN 10 2005 ...2004 PORTLAND YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2004...PORTLAND EXPERIENCED MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND MUCH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IN FACT...THE AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE RANKED 2004 AS THE 2ND WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD SINCE RECORD TAKING BEGAN AT THE PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN 1941. IN ADDITION...THE 2004 ANNUAL PRECIPITATION TOTAL RANKED AS THE 5TH DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD SINCE 1941. THIS ABNORMALLY WARM AND DRY WEATHER OCCURRED AS EL NINO CONDITIONS BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN DURING THE LATE SUMMER MONTHS. WHILE EL NINO WINTERS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS...THIS CANNOT EXPLAIN THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS THAT PREVAILED OVER THE SPRING MONTHS. ...NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS... JANUARY 2004 BEGAN AS THE POLAR OPPOSITE...BOTH FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY...FROM WHAT THE REST OF THE YEAR IN WEATHER WOULD BRING. MOST RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY WILL SOON NOT FORGET THE ICE AND SNOW STORM FROM JAN 5TH THROUGH JAN 8TH. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 10 INCHES WERE COMMON ACROSS THE AREA BEFORE THE CHANGEOVER TO FREEZING RAIN. IF THE SNOW WAS NOT ENOUGH TO BRING THE CITY TO A STANDSTILL...ABOUT AN INCH OF ICE FELL ON TOP OF THE SNOW...AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT WAS NOT ALREADY SNOW COVERED. THIS RESULTED IN THE VIRTUAL SHUTDOWN OF THE CITY WITH ALL SCHOOLS...MOST BUSINESSES...PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...AND INTERSTATE 84 EAST OF TROUTDALE CLOSED FOR DAYS. WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE...9.3 INCHES OF SNOW AND JUST OVER AN INCH OF FREEZING RAIN WERE RECORDED AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. EXTREME WEATHER OF A DIFFERENT SORT DOMINATED THE SPRING MONTHS IN THE NORTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY...EXTREMELY WARM AND DRY. THE MONTHS OF MARCH...APRIL...AND MAY RANKED AS THE 2ND WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD AT PORTLAND AIRPORT. LIKEWISE...THE MEAGER 4.32 INCHES OF RAINFALL PLACED THE SPRING OF 2004 AS THE 2ND DRIEST SPRING ON RECORD. THE WARM AND DRY WEATHER CONTINUED THROUGH MOST OF THE SUMMER UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST. A DRASTIC PATTERN CHANGE AND THE REMNANTS OF EASTERN PACIFIC TYPHOON MEGI PRODUCED SOME OF THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FOR A SUMMERTIME MONTH SINCE 1977 IN THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF OREGON. IN ONLY A SIX DAY PERIOD FROM AUGUST 21ST THROUGH 26TH...ALMOST THREE TIMES THE NORMAL AUGUST MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTAL FELL. TRAGICALLY...ONE PERSON WAS KILLED ON THE SANDY RIVER AS HEAVY RAINS PRODUCED LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING. SOME MINOR HOUSE AND STREET FLOODING WAS ALSO REPORTED DURING THESE HEAVY RAINS. POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST STORY OF THE YEAR...WHILE NOT DIRECTLY WEATHER RELATED... WAS THE REAWAKENING OF MT ST HELENS AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER AND BEGINNING OF OCTOBER. THE CASCADE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY HAD NOTICED INCREASED SEISMIC ACTIVITY ON THE MOUNTAIN AND WARNED OF A POSSIBLE IMPENDING ERUPTION. A MINOR ERUPTION OCCURRED ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 1ST...WITH SEVERAL OTHER STEAM EMISSIONS IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS. FORTUNATELY FOR THE RESIDENTS OF THE PORTLAND AREA...WIND DIRECTIONS WERE OUT OF THE WEST AND TRANSPORTED THE ASH PLUME EAST INTO LESS POPULATED AREAS OF WASHINGTON STATE. NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2004 ENDED THE YEAR IN A FASHION MUCH LIKE THE PREVIOUS MONTHS...WARM AND DRY. THE RAINFALL TOTAL OF 6.29 INCHES RANKS AS THE 4TH DRIEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER PERIOD ON RECORD. WEAK TO MODERATE EL NINO CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY SPRING MONTHS...SO EXPECT A CONTINUATION OF WARM...AND POSSIBLY DRY CONTIONS INTO THE EARLY PART OF 2005. ...RECORDS SET IN 2004... .HIGH TEMPERATURES... .LOW TEMPERATURES... .PRECIPITATION... MARCH 21ST - 70 NONE AUGUST 21ST - 0.54 MARCH 29TH - 75 AUGUST 22ND - 0.87 APRIL 3RD - 77 APRIL 10TH - 79 APRIL 11TH - 81 APRIL 26TH - 86 JULY 22ND - 98 JULY 23RD - 103 JULY 24TH - 100 OCTOBER 13TH - 81 ===================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR PORTLAND AIRPORT 2004... ...TEMPERATURE DATA... AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 42.6 34.0 38.3 -1.6 57 18 9.3 INCHES SNOW FEB 51.7 38.8 45.2 +2.1 57 30 MAR 60.4 42.0 51.2 +4.0 75 35 4TH WARMEST APR 67.3 45.3 56.3 +5.1 86 36 1ST WARMEST MAY 68.5 51.7 60.1 +3.0 82 44 JUN 75.8 55.2 65.5 +2.8 91 47 JUL 83.4 59.6 71.5 +3.4 103 55 4TH WARMEST AUG 82.3 60.7 71.5 +3.0 99 57 SEP 71.2 54.3 62.8 -0.8 80 47 OCT 64.0 48.6 56.3 +2.0 81 38 NOV 52.0 39.7 45.8 0.0 59 31 DEC 48.2 38.1 43.1 +2.9 61 30 ANNUAL 64.0 47.3* 55.6** +2.2 103 18 *ANNUAL AVG LOW TEMPERATURE OF 47.3 WAS 2ND WARMEST SINCE 1941 **ANNUAL AVG MEAN TEMPERATURE OF 55.6 WAS 2ND WARMEST SINCE 1941 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE...103 ON JUL 23RD COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE...18 ON JAN 6TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY...FEB 20TH FIRST FALL FROST DAY...NOV 5TH ...RAINFALL DATA TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE REMARKS MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL JAN 4.86 5.07 -0.21 FEB 3.95 4.18 -0.23 MAR 1.53 3.71 -2.18 4TH DRIEST APR 1.01 2.64 -1.63 MAY 1.78 2.38 -0.60 JUN 1.12 1.59 -0.47 JUL 0.04 0.72 -0.68 AUG 2.68 0.93 +1.75 4TH WETTEST SEP 1.03 1.65 -0.62 OCT 3.36 2.88 +0.48 NOV 2.38 5.61 -3.23 DEC 3.91 5.71 -1.80 ANNUAL 27.65* 37.07 -9.42 *ANNUAL TOTAL PRECIPITATION OF 27.65 WAS THE 5TH DRIEST SINCE 1941 WATER YEAR 2003-2004 35.92 -1.15 ...WIND DATA STRONGEST WIND GUST...48 MPH FROM THE EAST ON DEC 12TH FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CLIMATE/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PQR $$