Which city/town in the Williamette Valley has the best year-round weather? (Portland: live, costs)

[2ner]

Thanks for posting the weather insights. I have an additional question about weather in that area of Oregon between the Cascades and the Pacific Ocean and south of Roseburg... say Grants Pass to Medford to Ashland. It does get hotter there than in the Williamette Valley, but is it a humid hot like on the East Coast in the summer or is it more like Arizona / New Mexico... or somewhere in between? Thanks again.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by 2ner

San Diego is expensive for real estate and it's climbing fast. Few Americans can afford to live there. Oregon's housing costs are relatively high, but are still a lot lower than metro San Diego's. But for weather, I think most would agree with you.

But San Diego is the climate you are describing. It doesn't exist anywhere in Oregon. If you want that type of climate you have to be willing to pay for it. If a place like that did exist in Oregon, it would be just as expensive as San Diego.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by 2ner

Thanks for posting the weather insights. I have an additional question about weather in that area of Oregon between the Cascades and the Pacific Ocean and south of Roseburg... say Grants Pass to Medford to Ashland. It does get hotter there than in the Williamette Valley, but is it a humid hot like on the East Coast in the summer or is it more like Arizona / New Mexico... or somewhere in between? Thanks again.

It's dry. When it is very hot, the humidity is often somewhere around 12-20%. A normal 90° high late July day is usually about 25% rh in the hot part of the day. When it is in the 90s, night time temps are generally mid50s or so.

Because we are further north than a lot of hot places in the southwest, our hot part of the day is generally late, like 6pm. That means the mornings are cool but it also means that the evening isn't cool until 10pm or so.

Every now and then we get a sticky day, but it is sticky by our standards, not east coast/southern standards, and it's fairly unusual. The worst summer issue here, honestly, has been the smoke from forest fires. In the last 10 years, we have had 2 extremely smoky periods. This is not a particularly windy area and the smoke can linger. I can take the temp when it does its infrequent climbs above 100 (I just hide inside in the A/C the hot part of the day) but those 2 very smoky late summers were miserable. Of course, the smoke also affected the Willamette Valley and the Bend area as well. We went up to Eugene to visit a friend and it was worse there than here, but I think the RV gets it the worst.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

But San Diego is the climate you are describing. It doesn't exist anywhere in Oregon. If you want that type of climate you have to be willing to pay for it. If a place like that did exist in Oregon, it would be just as expensive as San Diego.

But where did the OP ask about California cities?

Regardless, within the Willamette Valley, there are some variables to keep in mind. Portland's climate is different than Eugene's. Not by any drastic measure, but there are differences. Portland suffers from winter ice storms, cold spells out of the Columbia Gorge, etc. Eugene is usually 4-8 degrees warmer year-round, but precipitation is about the same. Eugene does occasionally get snow, but it is unusual.

If we redefine the OP's original intent, then Medford probably has the best weather in Western Oregon. There is no doubt it is warm to hot in the summer, rare snowfall, and sunnier than points north. Klamath Falls, further east, is also warm in the summer, but colder in winter due to elevation.

The Oregon Coast is another variable, though the OP did not ask about this. The coast is cooler in the summer, and somewhat warmer in the winter than the inland areas. The far southwestern Oregon beaches can sometimes warm up near 70 during the middle of winter with certain wind conditions.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

But where did the OP ask about California cities?

That's why I said, it doesn't exist anywhere in Oregon, and I offered them an alternative.

[American Expat]

Originally Posted by 2ner

Which city or town between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascades ranks best overall on these four weather factors...

1. more sunny days
2. less rain
3. mild (not-too-cold) winters
4. mild (not-too-hot) summers

I'm thinking it might be Roseburg. Grants Pass might be good, too. What do others think?

In my opinion, it would be Medford with Ashland and Grants Pass right there as they are not so different from each other. I had considered retiring in Medford area but I guess my wife just doesn't want to be that from our grandkids in Seattle so we'll stay closer.


As others have already mentioned, Medford does get hotter but it's a dry heat and it cools at night. So in my opinion, Medford has the best climate in Oregon.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Within the Willamette Valley, isn't the weather about the same from town to town (except, a bit more rain nearer to the coast range)?

It's the other way around, less rain in the rain shadow of the Coast Range, and more rain in the foothills of the Cascades. The numbers get messed up because there are several low passes in the Coast Range that let the storms blow straight through, but Forest Grove or Monroe get 44 inches of rain a year, and Mill City gets 66 inches of rain a year.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

It's the other way around, less rain in the rain shadow of the Coast Range, and more rain in the foothills of the Cascades. The numbers get messed up because there are several low passes in the Coast Range that let the storms blow straight through, but Forest Grove or Monroe get 44 inches of rain a year, and Mill City gets 66 inches of rain a year.

Huh, because it is the other way in the Rogue Valley. More rain on the western slope of the valley and less rain on the eastern slope.

[texasdiver]

Portland probably has the harshest winter weather due to the ice storms that occasionally blow from the gorge. But those are pretty infrequent.

Summer weather is pretty equivalent in most of the Willamette Valley cities. I think there are non-weather environmental factors that are more important such as the smoke from burning grass seed fields and logging slash that collects in the southern end of the valley and the grass seed allergies that also also worse down there.

I grew up in Eugene and was miserable each spring/summer due to allergies and the smoke. Wasn't ever nearly as bad in Portland in my experience. I don't know if that is still the case because it has been many many years since I lived in Eugene.

To me those are MUCH more important factors than weather.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and ended up in the PNW for nearly 20 years. I lived mostly on the west side of WA from the OR border to the Canadian border. I also lived in Redding, CA (not far from Medford) and most recently in Crescent City, CA, just barely south of the OR border on the coast (close to Brookings, OR).

So, from my experience, if I had to choose the town that meets most of your criteria, I'd choose Grants Pass. It's not quite as hot as Medford, but sunnier than the coast. It's very pretty, and smaller, and you can always drive to Medford for bigger town stuff, but there is great shopping in Grants Pass. I used to drive there to do major shopping from Crescent City, CA. You'll find even Ross Dress for Less, and JoAnn's fabric, which are hard to find in smaller towns.

There's a lot to be said for more sunshine. You'll get more snow (but not a ton) in Grants Pass or Medford, compared to the coastal towns, but you'll also get a lot more sunshine, which just makes most people happier.

When I lived in Crescent City for a few years, I had to take Vitamin D supplements, because of the lack of sunshine. They regularly test people for Vitamin D deficiency there.

The problem with living somewhere with lots of overcast skies, other than Vitamin D deficiency, is that it's really hard to stay motivated. Think about what you feel like doing on a rainy or overcast day. Now imagine that most of the year is like that. It's hard to make yourself get out and do things when the weather is depressing. It takes a certain personality type, and Vitamin D supplements.

I'm so much happier living where I get more sunlight. Anyway, food for thought.