Rogue Valley microclimates? (Portland, Medford, Grants Pass: how much, homes, to buy)

[JourneyWest]

Hello, I'm currently a student in Klamath Falls working on my second career (after many years in construction) and have been researching possible places to relocate after I graduate. I've read many of the post regarding Medford and surrounding areas and feel that I have a general idea about the demographics, economy, climate and so forth. As far as weather, the general consenses from what I have read seems to be that in the winter, the Rogue Valley is just about as cloudy as Portland but not as rainy. One person I talked to said that because Ashland is next to a mountain, Medford gets slightly more sun. Other comments on this forum suggest that because Ashland is higher up, it gets a little more sun because Medford gets more fog. I don't plan to move to Ashland, but my question is this: Are there any outskirt areas around Medford such as Talent or up on the west slopes of Medford where the sun peaks out a little more as opposed to the valley floor. I realize overall that it probably all looks pretty much the same when high clouds or a frontal system moves in, and I'm not concerned with additional precipitation, but was just wondering if any areas are better off as far as low clouds and fog. Thanks for any feedback?

[Fiddlehead]

Most of the Rogue Valley will be similar. Ashland has a bit less winter fog because of its elevation. The fog usually goes up to a bout 1700', so Talent and Phoenix will also get it. Even Ashland has plenty of fog when the inversion is high. Overall, the inversion seems to last from about mid November to late January, when it is generally cloudy everywhere, so it does not last all winter. The springs can be cloudy and wet, but the cloud cover is much more mixed throughout the valley.

Yes, the valley can be nearly as cloudy as the Willamette Valley in December, but otherwise it is quite a bit sunnier and drier here.

What is interesting about Ashland is a short-lived event that I call the "Ashland chinook." When a strong winter storm is coming in from the west, a southeast wind often sets up in the Bear Creek Valley so that air heats by compression coming downs from the Pilot Rock/Siskiyou Pass area. We can often get lovely, clear mild afternoons where temps bump up into the high 50s or even 60s. A great time to get out and about before the storm hits, rains/snows fall, and temps plummet. I think the "chinook zone is strongest in the Buckhorn Springs / Emigrant Lake area, extending as far northwest as Medford in the strongest events.

[Nell Plotts]

I wonder if this is the same airstream that comes out of Sacramento to around Gold Beach..

[JourneyWest]

Thanks for breaking it down like that Fiddlehead. It's nice to know that there is some variability in the weather instead of a 24/7 blanket of clouds all winter. I'm used to sunnier weather so if I were to live there, any chinook winds would definitely be welcome!

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

I wonder if this is the same airstream that comes out of Sacramento to around Gold Beach..

Possibly something similar occurs, but the "chinook" is pretty specific to air coming down a mountain. I think the Brookings/Chetco/ Gold Beach effect occurs when air blows of the coastal mountains from the east. That said, I do recall very mild days right before storms hit in Arcata, CA, so it could be kinds of the same, southerly winds.

[jdfoster7777]

hi there. i am considering moving to the rogue valley as well. i am looking to buy some acreage and start up a homestead using permaculture methods to grow fruits and veggies. I use a website called homefacts.com to determine how much sunlight areas get. For example portland gets 48% or a rating of D+, while medford gets 88%, or a rating of A+. In dec, jan feb they say medford has about 19-24 cloudy days per month during these times. what is interesting is that if i look up other locations, like grants pass, gold hill, applegate, rogue river etc... the sunshine rating drops down all the way to 51%, or a rating of D+, siimilar to portland. this scares me, seeing as i hail from sunny nevada. My question is if you think it makes that huge a difference between ashland, medford, white city etc... and rogue river, grants pass etc.....should i not consider areas that only get a 51% rating or is this information misleading? I would really appreciate any feedback. I understand that higher elevations like ashland will get slightly more sun than medford etc...but my real question is what about the other areas like grants pass....is it really cloudy all the time in the winter? THANK YOU ALL!!

[jdfoster7777]

one last thing...is grants pass and surrounding cities much greener looking than medford and ashland? It gets more rain and seems foggier so i assume its much much greener? true? false? THANKS!

[Hawk J]

Grants Pass gets quite a few sunny days even in the winter, after the fog burns off, like today.

Grants Pass Daily Courier -- Downtown Web Cam

Grants Pass Daily Courier -- Rogue River Web Cam

Weather and web cams for Medford, Rogue Valley, Oregon and California

Oregon Web Cams : Listings of all Webcams in Oregon

We buy our vittles in GP, but we live at 2000' on the south side of a beautiful forested mountain. We get many partial sunny days in the winter.

[jdfoster7777]

very interesting thanks hawk i think i will be able to deal with a winter that has many overcast days as long as its not suffocating. I dont want to feel trapped. so long as there some partly sunny and some sunny days i will do alright. especially if i find a beautiful property that is very green and nice to look at those webcams are great im gonna try and look at them every day throughout winter to get a better feel. thanks a lot!

[jdfoster7777]

one last thing, does anyone know about cave junction or the selma area? i see it gets a TON of rain, so it must get really overcast there i assume. any info would be great, thanks again