This map says it all.
July 3rd was another scorcher for most while Portland had a high of just 68 degrees!
And sure, summer is finally starting this week, with an 80s ‘bonanza’ in our 7 day forecast. But June 2012 was incredibly remarkable because of a national heatwave. Left out? Oregon and Washington.
Record Highs Set During June 2012, Oregon & Washington Left Out In The ‘Cold’
Sorry, Washington. You did not set a single high temperature record during June 2012. Nope. Not one!
Sorry, Oregon. You only set one high temperature record during June 2012. That’s right, just 1 for the entire state for the entire month.
But check this out: the heat wave across the United States smashed 3,215 temperature records during June 2012. And what really blows me away? 1,748 of new records were for temperatures of 100 degrees or hotter! That is just crazy. Doing the math, 54% of the record highs set this past month were with temperatures 100 degrees or hotter. Wow. Hotter than fireworks, right?
If you blow this chart up, you’ll see Oregon’s measely ‘1’ showing we set one record high and if you’re in Washington, you were left off altogether. Hey, you’ve gotta have record heat to make it onto this chart!
What Created Record Heat And Unusual Cool During June 2012
In a nutshell–the weather patterns got stuck. Strong high pressure dominated much of the lower 48 and locked in the heat. Because that pattern was locked, little could change ‘upstream’ in the northwest. So Oregon and Washington were locked into a cool pattern. The heatwave pattern continues many places on this fourth of July–and it even shifts west just enough to get Portland into the upper 80s by the 7th and 8th of July.
Portland:
- 4.10″ of rain June 2012 – 2nd wettest June on record at Portland Airport – 4.27″ in 2010 is number one
- 16 days with at least .01″ of rain – nearly tied record of 18 days with rain set in 1983
- 73% of June high temperatures were below average
Seattle:
- 2.96″ of rain – 6th wettest on record
- an average high of just 65.7 degrees
- 76 degrees was the hottest high on June 20, 2012
- not a single day was listed as ‘sunny’ by the National Weather Service
Bruce: We had a similar story and statistics here north of the border. This June was my 7th wettest and 4th coolest in 38 years. However, I’m just glad I can see the sun and blue sky in the morning finally! Our temperatures in the city should be up in the mid-80’s this weekend. Meanwhile, enjoy your holiday!