June 2010 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, June in Hood River was colder and wetter, with lower than average winds.

June easily earned the title of "Junuary", indicating that it was, technically speaking, cold. At my weather station, the average temperature of 61.3° was cooler than long term averages (61.9°), and much cooler than more recent (2000-2009) averages of 64.2°, making it the coldest June at my weather station since I started keeping track in 2000.

At HOXO, the most official Hood River station, June's average temperature was 60.7°. Oddly enough, using HOXO's data, June 2008 (which also earned the title of Junuary) was actually colder, at 60.1°. And that June was not the coldest June ever in Hood River. For example, June 1976, the month and year I moved to Hood River, the avg temperature was 58.1°. Coincidence? I think not. By the way, if you're interested, here's Hood River's official monthly temperatures, going all the way back to 1893, before thermometers were invented, when temperatures were officially measured by counting the number of cricket chirps per minute.

There was a total of 2.50" of precipitation, compared to an average June total of 0.74". Incredibly, this too wasn't a monthly record for June. That distinction belongs to June 1937, in which 4.17" of rain fell.

The 24 hour avg wind speed was 4.1 mph against an average of 4.8 mph, continuing the increasingly interesting trend of lower average wind speeds for the last 10 months. I don't know what to make of this trend, other than maybe the wind is just getting tired. Or maybe my anemometer is screwed up.

There were 3 local weather records set in June. On June 2nd, we officially received 0.70" of rain (old record: 0.24" in 1966), and on June 4th, 0.67" (old record: 0.42" in 1977). And then, as if to put an exclamation point on a ridiculously chilly month, a "low high" temperature record of 59° was set on June 16th (old record: 60° in 1946).

The tabular data below is from my home weather station. To view its June 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2009 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	86	43	61.3	56.2
Wind (mph)	33		4.1	4.8
Rainfall (in)	0.76		2.50 (total)	0.74

Forget Junuary. It's Endless Summer now. :)

May 2010 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, May in Hood River was way cooler, wetter, and just-below-average windy.

The average temperature of 52.6° was cooler than long term averages (56.2°), and and lot cooler than more recent (2000-2009) averages of 58.5° . There was 2.16" of precipitation, double the average May total of 1.06". The 24 hour avg wind speed was slightly lower than average (3.6 mph vs 3.9 mph), continuing the trend of lower average wind speeds for the past 9 months.

May started off cool, followed by a brief warm spell in the middle (5 days, with a max of 80°), and cooled off again after that. Rain was scattered throughout the month, with an impressive rainstorm of 0.93" on the 3rd.

There were no local weather records set in May. However, we did have some really good downpours. The instantaneous rain rate of 3.49"/hour on May 19th was about as high as I can remember, and my memory goes back a long ways. Several months, at least.

The data below is from my home weather station. To view its May 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2009 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	80	36	52.6	56.2
Wind (mph)	33		3.6	3.9
Rainfall (in)	0.93		2.16 (total)	1.06

Summer in Hood River? Soon. Heaven in Hood River? Here and now.

April 2010 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, April in Hood River was cooler, way wetter, and pretty much average for wind.

April reversed the "warmer than average" trend of January through March of this year. April's average temperature (49.3°) was cooler than long term averages (49.8°), and cooler than more recent averages of 50.4° (2000-2009). This was the 2nd coolest April this century, with April 2008 being the coolest at 46.8°.

There was 3.32" of precipitation, compared to an average April total of 1.64". This was great news for skiers and those who depend on summer water supplies (everybody).

The average wind speed was slightly below average (2.9 mph vs 3.1 mph), continuing the trend of lower average wind speeds for the past 8 months.

There was one local weather record set in April. On 4/2, Hood River officially received 0.68" of rain. This broke the previous record of 0.59" in 1958.

The data below is from my home weather station. To view its April 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2009 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	75	30	49.3	49.8
Wind (mph)	33		2.9	3.1
Rainfall (in)	0.82		3.32 (total)	1.64

March 2010 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, March in Hood River was warmer, wetter, and less windy.

The average temperature (45.0°) was warmer than long term averages (44.2°), but slightly cooler than more recent averages of 45.3° (2000-2009). There was 3.56" of precipitation, compared to an average March total of 3.13". The monthly average wind speed was below average (1.9 mph vs 2.7 mph), continuing the trend of lower average wind speeds for the past 7 months.

There was one local weather record set in March. On March 29th, the heavens opened up, and we received 1.31" of rain. This more than doubled the previous 3/29 record of 0.62" in 1974, and made a big dent in our rain year deficit.

The data below is from my home weather station. To view its March 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2009 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	66	28	45.0	44.2
Wind (mph)	33		1.9	2.7
Rainfall (in)	1.31		3.56 (total)	3.13

February 2010 Revisited

Compared to historical averages, February in Hood River was warmer, drier, and remarkably non-windy.

The average temperature (42.0°) was warmer than long term averages (38.4°), and warmer than more recent averages of 39.6° (2000-2009). There was 3.30" of precipitation, compared to an average February total of 3.65". The 24 hour avg wind speed was way lower than average (0.4 mph vs 1.8 mph), continuing the trend of lower average wind speeds for the past 6 months.

Like January, February started out unseasonably warm, and stayed that way until Feb 17, when modified arctic air moved in, with lows reaching into the mid to low 20's. This was almost certainly caused by my ridiculously early planting of sugar snap peas a few days prior. I'm sorry. Luckily, the peas survived, and emerged (looking somewhat pissed off) on March 6th.

Otherwise, February was mostly gray, with either inversions or storm clouds blocking the sun. There were, however, several sunny days, which explains the early pea plantings.

There were no local weather records set in February.

The data below is from my home weather station. To view its February 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.

The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2009 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	61	24	42.0	38.4
Wind (mph)	18		0.4	1.8
Rainfall (in)	0.69		3.30 (total)	3.65

Don Williams, one of my favorite country singers/songwriters, singing one of my favorite country songs. In this video, he's either wasted, or seriously tired. In any event, great song.