Southern Oregon vs. Portland= Enough of a sun/rain difference to move?

[Robsteel17]

I've lived in both places and yes, there is a noticeable difference the rainfall in the two places. Spring starts earlier and Fall arrives later in Southern Oregon. The tradeoff is hotter temps in the summer. As noted, Medford gets about 20" of rain a year (on par with the Bay Area). Portland gets about 35-40", which is definitely enough to make a difference. And Grants Pass does not get a full 10" of rain more than Medford. The two towns are pretty comparable in precipitation.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Robsteel17

I've lived in both places and yes, there is a noticeable difference the rainfall in the two places. Spring starts earlier and Fall arrives later in Southern Oregon. The tradeoff is hotter temps in the summer. As noted, Medford gets about 20" of rain a year (on par with the Bay Area). Portland gets about 35-40", which is definitely enough to make a difference. And Grants Pass does not get a full 10" of rain more than Medford. The two towns are pretty comparable in precipitation.

That 10" rain differential between Medford and GP is from 77 years of Western Regional Climate Center data and it's actually 30.9" average in GP and 19.11" average in Medford. Maybe the location that they obtain their data in the 2 cities is causing that but virtually all of the climate information on these 2 cities shows approx. 10" more rain yearly in GP. I'm more interested in how that affects the yearly sun hours and most people seem to think there's not a lot of difference.

[Hawk J]

From year to year, Grants Pass gets plenty of Sunshine.....

[Robsteel17]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

That 10" rain differential between Medford and GP is from 77 years of Western Regional Climate Center data and it's actually 30.9" average in GP and 19.11" average in Medford. Maybe the location that they obtain their data in the 2 cities is causing that but virtually all of the climate information on these 2 cities shows approx. 10" more rain yearly in GP. I'm more interested in how that affects the yearly sun hours and most people seem to think there's not a lot of difference.

Hmmm...when I lived in Medford it didn't seem like the forecast between the two places was much different, but when I look it up it does say GP averages 30". I guess the surrounding hills must wring out more moisture. I suspect that the cloudy vs. sunny days should be pretty close.

[TheDaveMaybe]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

You'll hear lots of references to "sunny southern Oregon." By Willamette Valley standards, it is a shade sunnier, but most of that extra sunshine comes in the summer when we have more than we need already. Spring gets started later, but warms up faster and late spring (mid-April to June) will be a little sunnier than what you're used to. The same for early fall. But the bad news is...winter will only be about a 20% improvement (that' not much). Medford and Ashland are in the rainshadow of the Siskiyou Mts. and so get much less rain than Portland. But that doesn't mean it's significantly less cloudy.

You really have to get out of the "roaring forties" to get an improvement in winter sunshine. Unfortunately, the 42nd parallel is Oregon's southern border. You don't have to go much further south...Redding or Chico...to get south of the storm track and pick up a huge benefit in winter sun (more than 140 hrs. in Dec. as opposed to 60-80 in Medford). But than means living in California...ew.

Yeah, the whole "the Rogue Valley is sunny" thing isn't entirely true. SUNNIER probably, but not by much. We are drier, but that doesn't necessarily equate to sunshine.

[Sherwoody]

Originally Posted by Robsteel17

Hmmm...when I lived in Medford it didn't seem like the forecast between the two places was much different, but when I look it up it does say GP averages 30". I guess the surrounding hills must wring out more moisture. I suspect that the cloudy vs. sunny days should be pretty close.

Also, you need to know where the data is is collected. Grants Pass data comes from the Merlin Seed Orchard, Medford is the airport. I did some work in JO CO a few years ago and as far as the low cloud/fog in winter, it always cleared in GP before Merlin.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by TheDaveMaybe

Yeah, the whole "the Rogue Valley is sunny" thing isn't entirely true. SUNNIER probably, but not by much. We are drier, but that doesn't necessarily equate to sunshine.

We have about 55 days more of sun/part sun, which is not quite 3 months and enough more sun for me. Yes, Nov-Feb is still rainy, cool, cloudy and occasionally foggy. Sure, we can go a few weeks without sun here as well as they do in Portland.

BUT we start getting nice days in March and by May or so the weather is reliably warm and sunny, compared to the beginning of July in Portland.

People in the sunny SW might view that as splitting hairs, but it is that early spring sun that makes the difference to me.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

We have about 55 days more of sun/part sun, which is not quite 3 months and enough more sun for me. Yes, Nov-Feb is still rainy, cool, cloudy and occasionally foggy. Sure, we can go a few weeks without sun here as well as they do in Portland.

BUT we sUeginning of July in Portland.

People in the sunny SW might view that as splitting hairs, but it is that early spring sun that makes the difference to me.

That's what it looks like to me from someone who has lived in Portland but not in Rogue Valley. March in Medford averages 1.71" of rain and a day versus night differential of 23F (60/37). Portland gets down to 1.7" in June and also has that 20+ day versus night high differential in June. Portland has 8 months of 2"+ of rain and Medford has 4 months of 2"+ rain.

Also comparing the number of days where you have at least a 20F+ differential between day highs and night lows (which is an indication of sun warming), Portland has 4 months (June-Sept) while Medford has 9 months (Feb-Oct). This seems significant to me and I'm really comparing Medford to Seattle which is even more of a differential and only gets 2 months with a 20F+ differential.

I compared GP and Ashland on that 20+ differential and ashland has 10 and almost 11 months with the differential and GP has 9 months (same as Medford).