How 'Hot' has it got in your area this summer? (Portland: to live, move to)

[MtnSurfer]

Hello,

I am curious if you have had any heat waves yet? Ihave been watching the weather.com forecasts for Portland and a few more towns and it doesn't look too bad lately.

In Colorado Springs we have had some hots days reaching in to the md 90s. Also we took our son to the Denver Zoo for his birthday on June 30 and it was 101 degrees - definately too hot for the zoo.

- Derek

[Waterlily]

I'm at the coast. We may have had one day where it got up to 70 degrees but that's all. Most of the summer has been in the 60's. I will say it has been gloomier than usual this summer.

[MtnSurfer]

Waterlily,

Wow, only one day in the 70s by mid July. That seems a bit odd to me and really perked my interest. So I did a lookup on weather.com and city-data to check annual average temperatures. The funny thing I found out about the Oregon Coast, I'll use Cannon Beach as an example, is that June and July are 'not' the warmest months on average. For June the average high is only 65 and July it is 68 degrees. Then things warm up a bit in August (69) and September (70).

Portland on the other hand experiences its warmest months in July (79) and August (79) which is more consistent with the rest of the country.

So I guess the folks on the coast look forward to August and September for more warm and sunny days. Has June and July been mostly cloudy this year on the coast? Or has it just been cooler with some sun popping out here and there?

Thanks,

Derek

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Waterlily,
So I guess the folks on the coast look forward to August and September for more warm and sunny days. Has June and July been mostly cloudy this year on the coast? Or has it just been cooler with some sun popping out here and there?

October can be gorgeous on the Oregon coast, particularly the first half of the month.

[Waterlily]

Yes more toward the fall season is best on the coast. We do look forward to it.
What I meant to say was that it seems there are more clouds this summer than usual. Sure there has been some sunny days but the last few have been gloomy. I don't remember having so many gloomy days during summer.

If it's going to rain I wish it would. I hope to see the sun again soon. The temperatures are probably about normal for here.

[mdvaden]

It reached 104 just recently in Medford, Oregon.

I enjoyed getting down to the coast on one of the hot days. At 11am or so, 3/4 of the way to the coast, I watched my truck thermometer show a drop from about 85 degrees to 60 degrees in 15 minutes just prior to reaching the redwoods.

How I love the coastal weather.

[MtnSurfer]

mdvaden,

That is a great 'beat the heat' escape plan. Here in Colorado Springs we drive up into the Rocky Mountains to do the same thing. But I would love the option of being able to hit the coast when things get too hot inland.

Thanks for that perspective.

- Derek

[furyu]

Here along the southern coast of Oregon, in Brookings, we had a brief hot spell that lasted for close to a week where the temperatures right along the coast got into the mid-80s and farther inland (a mile or so), up into the 90s. That was in mid-June, if I recall correctly (if I wasn't feeling lazy, I'd get up and check my daily journal for the exact dates). Since then, temperatures have hovered around the mid to high 60s and low 70s.

There have been more grey overcast days this year than last, or so it seems. Usually we'll get a day or two of foggy or overcast weather, and then the skies will clear and be sunny and cloudless for several days. This pattern of fog/sun repeats throughout the summer. Often, here along the coast, the days start with fog that dissipates by early or mid afternoon.

Indeed, the latter part of summer and early fall brings the warmest temperatures to the coast. Personally, I prefer temperatures in the 70s to the 80s but when it gets 'hot', that is, into the 80s and rarely the 90s (along the coast), I recall the many years I lived in Southern California and the constant high heat, and realize how wonderful this climate is and how fortunate I am to live here.

[PNW-type-gal]

It hit a hundred here in the Portland area for a day or two, spent a couple days in the 90s and now it's back in the 80s, where it belongs. Yesterday was also sticky humid, which is unusual, but then we had a big thunder/lightning storm the night before, which is also unusual.

You lose your "hot climate" acclimatization when you move to Portland and get used to temperate weather. I could have tolerated 100+ once, but not now. I'm fine up until about the mid-90s, and then I wilt. Unfortunately, after nearly 25 years here, I've never really developed a "35 degrees and raining with a 40 mph east wind" acclimation, which is why I shouldn't have moved into a heavy Gorge-wind influenced area.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Unfortunately, after nearly 25 years here, I've never really developed a "35 degrees and raining with a 40 mph east wind" acclimation, which is why I shouldn't have moved into a heavy Gorge-wind influenced area.

That's some of the nastiest weather in the world. I have been in Midwest blizzards that were warmer. When the rain has ice in it, and the wind is driving the ice water right into you, there is no way to stay warm.