What makes Medford so damn hot!? (Portland, Eugene: live, airport, to move)

[TheDaveMaybe]

Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest in general, are known for year-long mild weather-not too hot, not too cold-but for some reason, Medford has blazing hot summers (July high and low: 92/57). Why is this? What's the particular reason for this weird climate phenomenon? Does the short distance from CA have anything to do with it?

[PNW-type-gal]

Might as well as why Portland is much wetter in the winter - it is in a different climate, not "some weird climate phenomenon."

Medford (and all the rest of the Rogue Valley) sits much further south, has much less maritime influence and has a climate more like that of Northern California than it does the Willamette Valley. It's not like climate changes right at the geographic border. This late spring/early summer, we are going through and odd cycle where it is 10-20° below OR 10-20° above average - it just keeps swinging back and forth, never quite settling on one direction and letting you get adjusted. The average high right now should be about 80° and NWS is forecasting 98° for Monday.

On the other hand, when I start thinking about complaining about the heat, I just look at Redding (projected Monday high 109°) and Modesto (projected Monday high 103°) and think "could be worse."

Medford average a high of 92° for 4-6 weeks each summer and we usually get 9-12 days above 100° every summer. That is on average. I think the all-time record high is something like 115°.

[nateswift]

The town I grew up in in CA is only 150 miles south and has an average of about 5-7 degrees hotter weather. I'd say inland valley and latitude are the greatest elements involved. I settled on Medford because it is that much cooler than where my sisters live. Try comparing to say Bakersfield CA and count your blessings.

[TheDaveMaybe]

I know the Geographic border doesn't work like that, and I know we aren't as hot as Redding or Sacramento, but we are really, for only major city in Oregon that gets this hot in the summer.
Portland in July: 84/56
Salem in July: 83/54
Eugene in July: 82/54
Ashland: 87/53
Medford: 92/57

AND WE'RE DRY! We might as well be in NorCal lol

[Larry Caldwell]

Being dry is part of why it gets so hot. Humid air takes more energy to warm up, so dry air gets hotter faster. Medford also sits in a bowl and there isn't much air movement, which acts like a nice warm blanket. You notice Ashland is a few degrees cooler, just because it is outside the bowl.

On the up side, it's dry enough that a swamp cooler will work fine, which means AC can be really cheap to run. A swamp cooler will give you 20 degrees of cooling in the hottest part of the day.

[PNW-type-gal]

I can't find an open source image to hotlink to, but if you click on a topo map

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5078.../data=!5m1!1e4

you can see why the Rogue Valley is in a different climate. Look at the the Willamette Valley - a broad valley between the Coast Range and the Cascades, and the Rogue Valley, a narrow valley right in the heart of the Klamath/Siskiyou/Cascade mountains.

Ashland is still in the Rogue Valley, it is just about 700' higher than Medford (as measured at Plaza in Ashland and the airport in Medford). That is also why it gets a bit more ice and snow in the winter.

[Carlyee3]

A couple of reasons for Medford (and Redding, Red bluff) being hot. First, being so far inland they are continental in climate and not coastal. Hence, their are fewer cool ocean breezes to move cool air into the area and the Sun is the main energy input to the area. Second, to the west of all these cities are fairly high mountains. On the leeward side of these mountains (east side), the predominantly westerly flow of air subsides. The compression of the subsiding air heats up the air and adds more heat to the area.

Hope this helps.

[VirgilT]

I was told and somewhat believe that Medford, Ashland, central Point, Grants Pass all are in something similar to a giant bowl. This bowl is surrounded by mountains and forests. So these areas are good for catching the hotter weather and staying hotter because, The heat has a hard time discipating in these areas.

[redrebel66]

Its because god looked to everything in western oregon and felt bad so he blessed it with some better weather.