August 2011 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, August 2011 in Hood River was hotter, sunnier, and windier.

My station's average temperature of 70.1° was way warmer than the long term August average of 66.6° (yikes...there's that number again...), and also warmer than the more recent (2001-2010) average of 68.7°. The official average temperature in Hood River, recorded at HOXO, was 69.1°.

In case you're wondering (and even if you aren't), this was the warmest August since 2004. It really didn't feel like an especially warm August, but things warmed up in the 2nd half of the month, and night time lows stayed unusually warm.

At my station, the maximum temperature was 95°, and the minimum was 47°. Official Hood River highs and lows were 93° and 44°. The high heat index for the month was 93°, and the low wind chill was 47°.

Solar radiation averaged 598 Ly/day, compared to an average August solar radiation of 568 Ly/day. The maximum solar radiation, 661, occurred on August 1st.

Official precipitation totaled 0.05", compared to an average of 0.37". My station recorded 0.06". The high rain day (in fact, the ONLY rain day) was the 26th.

The 24 hour average wind speed at my somewhat sheltered weather station was 5.0 mph, compared to an average August wind speed of 3.7 mph. This was, believe it or not, the windiest August since I started keeping wind records in 2001.

The peak wind gust was 30 mph on the 13th. Wind speeds at other less sheltered locations, such as the Columbia River, were undoubtedly higher. Barometric pressure peaked at 30.13", with a low of 29.74".

There was 1 local weather record set in August. On August 25th, it didn't hardly cool off at night, and the temperature only dropped to 67° at HOXO (70° at my station), breaking the previous "high low" record for the date of 64° in 1958. There were other days in mid to late August that tied or came close to the previous "high low" records, and that helps account for the relatively high overall average temperature for August.

These monthly summaries use data from my weather station located near May and Rand Streets in Hood River. To view my weather station's data for August 2011, click here.

For official Hood River data, and historical averages/records, the data comes from both the manually read NOAA station at MCAREC, and HOXO, the automated station located right next to MCAREC.

Summer finally arrives in Hood River. Break out the limes and the coconuts?