NOUS46 KPQR 172225 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 225 PM PST TUE JAN 17 2006 ...2005 SALEM YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2005...SALEM EXPERIENCED NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. ALTHOUGH THE LONG TERM RECORD WILL SHOW A NEAR NORMAL YEAR...2005 WAS CHARACTERIZED BY LONG STRETCHES OF PERSISTENT WEATHER REGIMES. WEAK EL NINO CONDITIONS ACROSS THE TROPICAL PACIFIC WANED EARLY IN 2005 AND WAS REPLACED BY NEUTRAL CONDITIONS. NEAR NORMAL TROPICAL PACIFIC SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES PERSISTED LATE INTO THE YEAR BEFORE SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES BEGAN TO APPEAR. ...NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS... THE WEATHER OF JANUARY 2005 BEGAN THE YEAR MUCH LIKE THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2004 BEGAN THAT YEAR...WITH SNOW AND ICE. UNLIKE JANUARY 2004...THE 2005 SNOW AND ICE EVENT WAS MUCH SHORTER IN DURATION...AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANTLY...OCCURRED OVER THE LONG MARTIN LUTHER KING JR HOLIDAY WEEKEND. THIS LIMITED THE IMPACT ON THE CITY...HOWEVER CLOSE TO 225 FLIGHTS FROM PORTLAND AIRPORT WERE CANCELLED. AND STRANGELY ENOUGH...THIS SNOW AND ICE EVENT WAS ENDED BY A SURGE OF WARM AIR THAT PRODUCED RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ON JANUARY 19TH. OUTSIDE OF THIS SNOW AND ICE EVENT...PRECIPITATION REMAINED AT A PREMIUM THROUGH FEBRUARY. THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY...THE WATER YEAR PRECIPITATION TOTAL WAS THE 2ND DRIEST RECORDED IN SALEM...AND WAS LESS THAN HALF THE TOTAL THAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED UP TO THAT POINT. PLANS FOR RESTRICTED WATER USAGE AND THE IMPENDING FIRE SEASON WERE CONSTRUCTED EARLY IN THE SPRING...BUT THEN THE SPRING RAIN ARRIVED. WITH ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION FROM MARCH THROUGH JUNE...MUCH OF THE CONCERN OVER SUMMER WATER SUPPLY AND A DANGEROUS FIRE SEASON WAS ALL BUT WASHED AWAY. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY WAS AT A RELATIVE MINIMUM DURING 2005. ALTHOUGH...AREAS IN MORE RURAL MARION AND LINN COUNTIES DID RECEIVE THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH ON BOTH MAY 18TH AND JUNE 19TH. THE SUMMER SEASON WAS VERY PLEASANT FOR CENTRAL VALLEY. ALTHOUGH THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR BOTH JULY AND AUGUST WAS ABOVE NORMAL...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE NEVER REACHED 100 DEGREES IN THE SUMMER OF 2005. THIS IS THE FIRST SUMMER SINCE 2001 THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS NOT REACHED 100 DEGREES. AFTER A VERY QUIET FALL SEASON...THE RAINS OF WINTER ARRIVED IN THE END OF NOVEMBER. AFTER A VERY COLD DRY PERIOD IN THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER WHICH YIELDED 14 STRAIGHT DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION...SALEM WAS THRUST BACK INTO WINTRY CONDITIONS ON DECEMBER 18TH WITH SNOW REPORTED ACROSS THE CENTRAL VALLEY. THE SNOW DID NOT LAST LONG AS VERY WET AND WARM CONDITIONS TOOK HOLD OF THE AREA BY THE END OF THE YEAR. THIS WARM AND WET WEATHER PATTERN WOULD PERSIST INTO 2006 CREATING WIDESPREAD FLOODING ACROSS THE AREA. ...RECORDS SET IN 2005... .HIGH TEMPERATURES... .LOW TEMPERATURES... .PRECIPITATION... JANUARY 19TH - 63 NONE MAY 18TH - 0.66 FEBRUARY 23RD - 66 SEPTEMBER 10TH - 0.79 MARCH 11TH - 73 OCTOBER 2ND - 0.60 MAY 26TH - 91 MAY 27TH - 90 DECEMBER 24TH - 60 =================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR THE SALEM AIRPORT 2005... ...TEMPERATURE DATA... AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 48.3 35.3 41.8 +1.5 64 20 FEB 51.9 30.9 41.4 -1.6 66 22 MAR 59.9 37.3 48.6 +2.1 73 29 APR 59.6 40.8 50.2 +0.2 76 33 MAY 67.5 48.2 57.9 +2.3 91 38 JUN 69.5 49.9 59.7 -1.5 83 42 JUL 82.7 55.0 68.9 +2.0 98 48 AUG 85.1 52.7 68.9 +1.9 97 47 SEP 74.7 46.4 60.6 -1.6 88 37 OCT 62.7 45.7 54.2 +1.3 70 34 NOV 51.0 34.0 42.5 -2.7 59 25 DEC 45.9 33.7 39.8 -0.4 60 17 ANNUAL 63.2 42.5 52.9 +0.2 98 17 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE... 98 ON JULY 27TH COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE... 17 ON DEC 16 AND 17TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY... MARCH 17TH FIRST FALL FROST DAY... NOV 7TH ...RAINFALL DATA... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL REMARKS JAN 1.43 5.84 -4.41 6TH DRIEST FEB 0.49 5.09 -4.60 2ND DRIEST MAR 4.15 4.17 -0.02 APR 2.82 2.76 +0.06 MAY 4.65 2.13 +2.52 4TH WETTEST JUN 1.90 1.45 +0.45 JUL 0.21 0.57 -0.36 AUG 0.05 0.68 -0.63 SEP 2.33 1.43 +0.90 OCT 2.70 3.03 -0.33 NOV 6.04 6.39 -0.35 DEC 11.52 6.46 +5.06 ANNUAL 38.29 40.00 -1.71 WATER YEAR 2004-2005 27.36 -12.64 5TH DRIEST WATER YEAR ...WIND DATA... STRONGEST WIND GUST...41 MPH FROM THE SOUTH ON MAR 19TH AND NOV 3RD FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CLIMATE/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PQR $$