NOUS46 KPQR 190244 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 645 PM PST TUE JAN 18 2004 ...2004 ASTORIA YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2004...ASTORIA EXPERIENCED MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IN FACT...THE AVERAGE ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE RANKED 2004 AS THE 2ND WARMEST YEAR IN ASTORIA SINCE RECORD TAKING BEGAN AT THE ASTORIA REGIONAL AIRPORT IN 1953. THE AVERAGE ANNUAL LOW TEMPERATURE RANKED AS THE WARMEST ON RECORD FOR ASTORIA. THIS ABNORMALLY WARM AND DRY WEATHER OCCURRED AS EL NINO CONDITIONS BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN DURING THE LATE SUMMER MONTHS. WHILE EL NINO WINTERS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY WARMER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS...THIS CANNOT EXPLAIN THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS THAT PREVAILED OVER THE SPRING MONTHS. ...NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS... JANUARY 2004 BEGAN AS THE POLAR OPPOSITE...BOTH FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY...FROM WHAT THE REST OF THE YEAR IN WEATHER WOULD BRING. MOST RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHERN OREGON COAST WILL SOON NOT FORGET THE ICE AND SNOW STORM FROM JAN 5TH THROUGH JAN 8TH. WHILE NOT AS SEVERE AS OTHER PARTS OF NORTHWEST OREGON...THE SNOW AND ICE MADE TRANSPORTATION NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR DAYS ACROSS THE AREA. BESIDES THE INCONVENIENCE OF SUCH AN EVENT...NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES WERE REPORTED ALONG AND NEAR THE OREGON AND WASHINGTON COASTS. HOWEVER...2004 MIGHT BE REMEMBERED MOST FOR THE INCREDIBLY WARM AND DRY WEATHER. EVERY MONTH FROM MARCH THROUGH AUGUST RANKED AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 WARMEST MONTHS ON RECORD. EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE WAS THE GENERAL LACK OF RAINFALL DURING THIS PERIOD. NUMEROUS NEW RECORD HIGHS WERE SET...INCLUDING ONE ON JULY 26TH WHICH WAS THE 2ND WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN ASTORIA. ALL THE WARM DRY WEATHER CAME TO AN END IN THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST WITH A PERIOD OF RAINS THAT PRODUCED THE 2ND WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD. POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST STORY OF THE YEAR...WHILE NOT DIRECTLY WEATHER RELATED... WAS THE REAWAKENING OF MT ST HELENS AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER AND BEGINNING OF OCTOBER. THE CASCADE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY HAD NOTICED INCREASED SEISMIC ACTIVITY ON THE MOUNTAIN AND WARNED OF A POSSIBLE IMPENDING ERUPTION. A MINOR ERUPTION OCCURRED ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 1ST...WITH SEVERAL OTHER STEAM EMISSIONS IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS. FORTUNATELY FOR THE RESIDENTS OF NORTHWEST OREGON...WIND DIRECTIONS WERE OUT OF THE WEST AND TRANSPORTED THE ASH PLUME EAST INTO LESS POPULATED AREAS OF WASHINGTON STATE. NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2004 ENDED THE YEAR IN A FASHION MUCH LIKE THE PREVIOUS MONTHS...WARM AND DRY. THE RAINFALL TOTAL OF 13.94 INCHES RANKS AS THE 7TH DRIEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER PERIOD ON RECORD. WEAK TO MODERATE EL NINO CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY SPRING MONTHS...SO EXPECT A CONTINUATION OF WARM...AND POSSIBLY DRY CONDITIONS INTO THE EARLY PART OF 2005. ...RECORDS SET IN 2004... .HIGH TEMPERATURES... .LOW TEMPERATURES... .PRECIPITATION... MARCH 21ST - 67 NONE JANUARY 28TH - 2.59 APRIL 2ND - 68 JANUARY 29TH - 2.13 APRIL 10TH - 77 MARCH 26TH - 1.37 APRIL 11TH - 73 APRIL 20TH - 0.67 APRIL 25TH - 77 MAY 26TH - 0.55 APRIL 30TH - 75 MAY 27TH - 1.04 JUNE 17TH - 89 AUGUST 21ST - 1.16 JULY 12TH - 81 AUGUST 25TH - 0.96 JULY 23RD - 96 ** SEPTEMBER 13TH - 0.63 NOVEMBER 16TH - 66 OCTOBER 16TH - 2.12 ** 2ND WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN ASTORIA ===================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR ASTORIA AIRPORT 2004... ...TEMPERATURE DATA... AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 47.5 38.3 42.9 +0.5 55 25 FEB 52.3 38.9 45.6 +1.4 63 29 MAR 55.1 40.9 48.0 +2.0 67 31 7TH WARMEST APR 61.1 40.6 50.9 +2.4 79 32 3RD WARMEST MAY 61.9 48.0 55.0 +2.3 69 39 5TH WARMEST JUN 66.9 52.1 59.5 +2.8 89 45 4TH WARMEST JUL 70.0 56.0 63.0 +2.9 96 50 1ST WARMEST AUG 70.1 57.5 63.8 +3.0 87 52 2ND WARMEST SEP 66.5 50.2 58.4 -0.1 72 43 OCT 60.8 46.6 53.7 +1.1 76 38 NOV 54.0 38.7 46.3 -0.2 55 30 DEC 50.9 39.6 45.2 +2.4 60 32 ANNUAL 59.8 45.6* 52.7** +1.7 96 25 * WARMEST ON RECORD SINCE 1953 ** 2ND WARMEST ON RECORD SINCE 1953 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE...96 ON JUL 23RD COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE...25 ON JAN 6TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY...APR 1ST FIRST FALL FROST DAY...NOV 4TH ...RAINFALL DATA... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE REMARKS MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL JAN 12.90 9.62 +3.28 FEB 6.97 7.87 -0.90 MAR 5.47 7.37 -1.90 APR 2.85 4.93 -2.08 8TH DRIEST MAY 3.37 3.28 +0.09 JUN 1.68 2.57 -0.89 JUL 0.15 1.16 -1.01 6TH DRIEST AUG 3.98 1.21 +2.77 2ND WETTEST SEP 4.30 2.61 +1.69 OCT 8.43 5.61 +2.82 NOV 6.70 10.50 -3.80 DEC 7.24 10.40 -3.16 ANNUAL 64.04 67.13 -3.09 WATER YEAR 2003-2004 75.98 +8.85 ...WIND DATA... STRONGEST WIND GUST...48 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST ON DEC 8TH FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CLIMATE/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PQR $$