NOUS46 KPQR 181833 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 1030 AM PST WED JAN 18 2006 ...2005 EUGENE YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2005...EUGENE EXPERIENCED NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND 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 WITH TEMPERATURES IN EUGENE HOVERING RIGHT AROUND 32 DEGREES...ICE ACCUMULATION WAS LIMITED. IN ADDITION...THIS ICE EVENT OCCURRED OVER THE LONG MARTIN LUTHER KING JR HOLIDAY WEEKEND AND THIS LIMITED THE IMPACT ON THE AREA. STRANGELY ENOUGH...THIS SNOW AND ICE EVENT WAS ENDED BY A SURGE OF WARM AIR THAT PRODUCED RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ON JANUARY 18TH AND 19TH. OUTSIDE OF THIS BRIEF ICE EVENT...PRECIPITATION REMAINED AT A PREMIUM THROUGH FEBRUARY. THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY...THE WATER YEAR PRECIPITATION TOTAL WAS THE 3RD DRIEST RECORDED IN EUGENE...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 SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY WAS AT A RELATIVE MINIMUM DURING 2005. THE EXCEPTION WAS THE EVENING OF JUNE 19TH WHEN THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH WERE REPORTED IN THE SPRINGFIELD AREA. THE SUMMER SEASON WAS VERY PLEASANT FOR THE SOUTHERN 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...EUGENE WAS THRUST BACK INTO WARMER AND WETTER CONDITIONS BY THE END OF THE MONTH. 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 18TH - 67 AUGUST 10TH - 44 SEPTEMBER 30TH - 0.78 JANUARY 19TH - 66 DECEMBER 30TH - 2.45 JANUARY 20TH - 64 JANUARY 21ST - 61 MARCH 7TH - 71 MARCH 9TH - 72 MARCH 10TH - 69 MARCH 11TH - 72 DECEMBER 24TH - 60 =================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR THE EUGENE AIRPORT 2005... ...TEMPERATURE DATA... AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 48.9 34.0 41.5 +1.7 67 21 FEB 51.0 32.1 41.6 -1.2 62 24 MAR 60.3 38.1 49.2 +2.9 73 29 APR 60.2 39.9 50.0 +0.2 75 33 MAY 67.3 47.2 57.2 +2.4 86 39 JUN 70.3 48.3 59.3 -0.9 85 39 JUL 84.0 52.4 68.2 +2.0 98 45 AUG 86.6 49.8 68.2 +1.8 97 44 SEP 76.3 44.6 60.4 -1.3 88 35 OCT 63.8 44.7 54.3 +1.6 72 32 NOV 49.0 35.2 42.1 -2.6 59 28 DEC 44.5 33.8 39.2 -0.4 60 20 ANNUAL 63.5 41.7 52.6 +0.5 98 20 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE... 98 ON JULY 27TH COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE... 20 ON DEC 16TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY... MARCH 15TH FIRST FALL FROST DAY... OCT 27TH ...RAINFALL DATA... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL REMARKS JAN 1.66 7.65 -5.99 5TH DRIEST FEB 1.27 6.35 -5.08 3RD DRIEST MAR 3.57 5.80 -2.23 APR 2.55 3.66 -1.11 MAY 3.85 2.66 +1.19 JUN 1.37 1.53 -0.16 JUL 0.23 0.64 -0.41 AUG 0.38 0.99 -0.61 SEP 1.04 1.54 +0.50 OCT 2.95 3.35 -0.40 NOV 5.19 8.44 -3.25 DEC 10.70 8.29 +2.41 ANNUAL 38.29 40.00 -1.71 WATER YEAR 2004-2005 25.71 -25.19 4TH DRIEST WATER YEAR ...WIND DATA... STRONGEST WIND GUST...46 MPH FROM THE SOUTH ON MAY 18TH FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CLIMATE/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PQR $$