NOUS46 KPQR 252340 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 345 PM PST TUE JAN 25 2005 ...2004 SALEM YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2004...SALEM EXPERIENCED ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND MUCH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. 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 NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY BELOW 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 CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY WILL SOON NOT FORGET THE ICE AND SNOW STORM FROM JAN 5TH THROUGH JAN 8TH. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WERE COMMON ACROSS THE AREA BEFORE THE CHANGEOVER TO FREEZING RAIN. IF THE SNOW WAS NOT ENOUGH TO BRING THE AREA TO A STANDSTILL...AT LEAST AN INCH OF ICE FELL ON TOP OF THE SNOW...AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT WAS NOT ALREADY SNOW COVERED. SOME AREAS REPORTED AS MUCH AS 2 INCHES OF ICE WHICH BROUGHT DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. THOUSANDS WERE WITHOUT POWER FOR DAYS...AND TRANSPORTATION THROUGHOUT THE AREA WAS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE. EXTREME DRYNESS AFFECTED THE CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEGINNING IN MARCH AND LASTING THROUGH MOST OF THE SPRING MONTHS. IN FACT...MARCH 2004 RANKED AS THE 10TH DRIEST MARCH ON RECORD SINCE 1893. SOME MINOR RELIEF IN THE FORM OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SEEN IN THE SALEM AREA COME LATE SPRING AND SUMMER...HOWEVER THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO ERASE THE DEFICIT CREATED IN THE PREVIOUS MONTHS. JULY SAW THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER IN THE SALEM AREA. IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS OF JULY 13TH...SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ERUPTED IN EASTERN MARION AND LINN COUNTIES NEAR THE CASCADE FOOTHILLS. THESE STORMS MOVED NORTH ALONG THE BASE OF THE CASCADES AND PRODUCED NICKEL SIZED HAIL IN EASTERN LINN COUNTY AND WINDS ESTIMATED ABOVE 50 MPH IN EASTERN MARION AND CLACKAMAS COUNTIES. LUCKILY...THE STORMS FADED AS QUICKLY AS THEY INITIATED AND ONLY AFFECTED MOSTLY RURAL AREAS. 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 THE SALEM AREA...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 6.03 INCHES RANKS AS THE 6TH DRIEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER PERIOD ON RECORD IN SALEM. WEAK TO MODERATE EL NINO CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY SPRING MONTHS...SO EXPECT A CONTINUATION OF WARM...AND POSSIBLY DRY CONTIONS INTO THE EARLY PART OF 2005. ...RECORDS SET IN 2004... .HIGH TEMPERATURES... .LOW TEMPERATURES... .PRECIPITATION... APRIL 10TH - 80 NONE NONE APRIL 30TH - 83 ===================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR THE SALEM AIRPORT 2004... ...TEMPERATURE DATA... AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 44.3 34.9 39.6 -0.7 55 19 FEB 51.4 35.7 43.6 +0.6 60 26 MAR 60.2 37.8 49.0 +2.5 76 30 APR 65.3 39.8 52.5 +2.6 84 31 MAY 66.7 46.8 56.8 +1.1 79 37 JUN 75.3 50.9 63.1 +1.9 93 41 JUL 84.9 55.0 70.0 +3.2 104 46 AUG 84.2 56.0 70.1 +3.1 99 51 SEP 71.5 49.7 60.6 -1.6 81 41 OCT 63.9 44.8 54.3 +1.4 79 36 NOV 50.7 37.0 43.8 -1.4 59 26 DEC 48.2 36.8 42.5 +2.3 59 29 ANNUAL 63.9 43.8 53.8 +1.3 104 19 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE...104 ON JUL 23RD COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE...19 ON JAN 5TH AND 6TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY...APR 1ST FIRST FALL FROST DAY...NOV 5TH ...RAINFALL DATA... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE REMARKS MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL JAN 6.70 5.84 +0.86 FEB 5.10 5.09 +0.01 MAR 1.43 4.17 -2.74 10TH DRIEST APR 2.13 2.76 -0.63 MAY 2.08 2.13 -0.05 JUN 1.78 1.45 +0.33 JUL 0.09 0.57 -0.48 AUG 1.04 0.68 +0.36 SEP 2.08 1.43 +0.65 OCT 3.30 3.03 +0.27 NOV 2.14 6.39 -4.25 DEC 3.89 6.46 -2.57 ANNUAL 31.76 40.00 -8.24 WATER YEAR 2003-2004 43.64 +3.64 ...WIND DATA... STRONGEST WIND GUST...45 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST ON FEB 25TH FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/CLIMATE/INDEX.PHP?WFO=PQR $$