Pacific NW Summer 2023

This summer didn't stand out to me. It seemed about average: very dry, smoky days picked up about halfway through, and the typical number of bouts of heat. Maybe I'm just getting used to rolling with the punches.

Portland, OR 2023:

Days in 80's: (April: 3, May: 6, June: 14, July: 19, August: 15 , Sept: 8)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 5, June: 1, July: 7, August: 6 , Sept: 3)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 0, August: 4, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 14): 108

Precip (inches): (April: 5.08, May: 0.91, June: 1.21; July: 0.00; August: 0.62; Sept: 1.25)

Seattle 2023:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 6, June: 5, July: 13, August: 10, Sept: 4)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 2, August: 4, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 15-16): 95

Precip (inches): (April: 3.86, May: 0.93; June: 1.22; July: 0.09; August: 0.27; Sept: 3.44)

Vancouver, BC 2023:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 3, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 20): 84

Precip (inches): (April: 3.89, May: 0.63, June: 0.78; July: 0.81; August: 1.35; Sept: 1.31)

Astoria, OR 2023:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 1, June: 0, July: 1, August: 1, Sept: 1)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 1, June: 0, July: 0, August: 2, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 14): 95

Precip (inches): (April: 8.42, May: 1.17, June: 0.70; July: 0.36; August: 0.81; Sept: 3.36

Pacific NW Summer 2022

This season cut sharply in two: a wet spring that stayed wet until the very end (mid-June, much later than normal), followed by an almost complete absence of rain for the next four months. Summers are usually dry, but this was taking it a bit far and extending further into October than normal (October even saw an unusual spate of hot days).

Once again, smoke reared its head, particularly in the more northern areas, but this time it was mainly relegated to very late in the season: September and October.

As for temps, not the flashy extremes of last year but well above-average overall in many areas.

Portland, OR 2022:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 4, July: 9, August: 14 , Sept: 14)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 3, July: 9, August: 9 , Sept: 3)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 3, August: 2, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 26 and 30): 102

Precip (inches): (April: 5.73, May: 3.78, June: 3.09; July: 0.00; August: 0.00; Sept: 0.31)

Seattle 2022:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 8, August: 14, Sept: 4)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 2, July: 6, August: 4, Sept: 1)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 29-31): 95

Precip (inches): (April: 2.71, May: 3.82; June: 2.67; July: 0.18; August: 0.05; Sept: 0.25)

Vancouver, BC 2022:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 5, August: 1, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 27): 86

Precip (inches): (April: 3.72, May: 3.63, June: 2.74; July: 1.09; August: 0.25; Sept: 0.28)

Astoria, OR 2022:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 2, August: 4, Sept: 3)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 0, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 26): 92

Precip (inches): (April: 6.75, May: 6.24, June: 3.83; July: 0.32; August: 0.25; Sept: 0.74)

Pacific NW Summer 2021

While smoke didn't plague western Oregon and Washington to the extent it did last year, though it did repeatedly reach the East Coast, record-setting heat in late June more than made up for it. Oregon, Washington, and BC set so many all-time records—and by a mile—that the records may not be broken for some time. For example, Portland broke its old record by 8 degrees, while Seattle matched Portland's old record!

In addition, the rain basically stopped sometime in spring and didn't resume until nearly the end of summer.

Portland 2021:

Days in 80's: (April: 3, May: 7, June: 9, July: 21, August: 12 , Sept: 13)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 6, July: 6, August: 7 , Sept: 0)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 3, July: 0, August: 2, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 28): 116

Precip (inches): (April: 0.39, May: 0.58, June: 1.25; July: 0.00; August: 0.05; Sept: 3.76)

Seattle 2021:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 1, June: 7, July: 14, August: 8, Sept: 3)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 2, August: 3, Sept: 0)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 3, July: 0, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 28): 108

Precip (inches): (April: 1.03, May: 1.12; June: 1.91; July: T; August: 0.11; Sept: 3.02)

Vancouver, BC 2021:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 3, July: 2, August: 4, Sept: 0)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 2, July: 0, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 28-29): 90

Precip (inches): (April: 1.50, May: 1.19, June: 1.46; July: T; August: 1.44; Sept: 4.61)

Astoria, OR 2021:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 0, June: 2, July: 0, August: 1, Sept: 3)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 0, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 27): 101

Precip (inches): (April: 1.37, May: 1.16, June: 1.92; July: 0.22; August: 0.49; Sept: 5.00)

Pacific NW Summer 2020

This summer seemed to be clipping along normally until September hit. Not too long into it, major fires east of populated areas in OR and WA developed, largely from lighting strikes over arid lands. Strong winds then carried the fires westward into areas not accustomed to wildfires. This also brought heavy smoke through most of the PNW for the better part of two weeks. Later in the month, smoke from the even larger fires in CA headed all the way to Canada, but in that case the smoke mostly remained aloft, narrowly avoiding a repeat of the disastrous air quality levels seen in many areas of the PNW earlier in the month. September, possibly aided by the smoke, saw an unusual number of warm days, too, compounding the problem.

Portland 2020:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 5, June: 5, July: 11, August: 17, Sept: 9)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 1, June: 1, July: 4, August: 4, Sept: 3)

Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 2, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 26-27): 100

Precip (inches): (April: 0.79, May: 2.21, June: 3.51; July: 0.05; August: 0.38; Sept: 2.06)

Seattle 2020:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 3, June: 4, July: 9, August: 10, Sept: 8)

Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 2, August: 1, Sept: 1)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 16): 97

Precip (inches): (April: 1.70, May: 3.05; June: 2.24; July: 0.28; August: 0.31; Sept: 1.60)

Vancouver, BC 2020:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 1, August: 2, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 17): 84

Precip (inches): (April: 0.90, May: 2.20, June: 2.09; July: 1.07; August: 1.83; Sept: 2.33)

Astoria, OR 2020:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 1, August: 2, Sept: 6)

Highest temp the whole season (Sep 9): 87

Precip (inches): (April: 1.97, May: 3.55, June: 2.38; July: 0.47; August: 0.50; Sept: 2.92)

Pacific NW Summer 2019

This summer saw some well-placed (if still modest, until September) rain that prevented fires from overpowering the season as they'd done the previous two years. Temperatures were a shade less onerous than normal, all in all making for one of the better summers in a while.


Portland 2019:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 7, June: 10, July: 15, August: 14, Sept: 7)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 2, July: 3, August: 6, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 12, Aug 27-28): 98

Precip (inches): (April: 2.98, May: 1.51, June: 0.45; July: 0.80; August: 1.23; Sept: 3.85)


Seattle 2019:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 3, June: 3, July: 10, August: 10, Sept: 1)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 1, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 12): 95

Precip (inches): (April: 3.53, May: 0.62; June: 0.90; July: 1.15; August: 1.20; Sept: 3.32)


Vancouver, BC 2019:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 2, August: 0, Sept: 1)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 12, Jul 21, 26): 84

Precip (inches): (April: 4.36, May: 1.20, June: 1.03; July: 1.21; August: 1.02; Sept: 4.81)


Astoria, OR 2019:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 2, June: 1, July: 0, August: 0, Sept: 0)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 0, August: 1, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 27): 91

Precip (inches): (April: 5.30, May: 1.66, June: 1.08; July: 1.62; August: 0.95; Sept: 6.14)

Pacific NW Summer 2018

Nothing terribly notable about this summer. It saw forest-fire smoke for about a month in the middle. Check. It saw extreme heat in July and August. Check. It saw drought conditions. Check. Perhaps surprising was that September went easy on the heat, with a much earlier return of at least some fall-like weather than normal.


Portland 2018:

Days in 80's: (April: 3, May: 7, June: 4, July: 9, August: 10, Sept: 9)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 1, June: 4, July: 14, August: 10, Sept: 1)
Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 1, August: 0, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 15): 100
Precip (inches): (April: 2.60, May: 0.08, June: 0.88; July: 0.02; August: 0.05; Sept: 1.53)


Seattle 2018:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 3, June: 4, July: 13, August: 11, Sept: 2)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 7, August: 4, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Jul 29, Aug 8): 94
Precip (inches): (April: 5.69, May: 0.12; June: 0.63; July: 0.05; August: 0.20; Sept: 1.04)


Vancouver, BC 2018:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 4, August: 4, Sept: 1)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 9): 84
Precip (inches): (April: 3.13, May: 0.06, June: 1.17; July: 0.13; August: 0.55; Sept: 2.85)


Astoria, OR 2018:

Days in 80's: (April: 1, May: 0, June: 0, July: 1, August: 1, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 21): 86
Precip (inches): (April: 6.39, May: 0.35, June: 2.17; July: 0.08; August: 0.34; Sept: 1.76)

Pacific NW Summer 2017

This summer of The Eclipse may have started a bit late, with wetter conditions than normal, but then the normal drought kicked in and temps were intense well into September in many locations. Portland saw its usual lofty highs, while Seattle has had more comfortable summers than this.


Portland 2017:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 7, June: 5, July: 19, August: 16, Sept: 8)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 1, June: 2, July: 3, August: 9, Sept: 6)
Days in 100's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 0, August: 2, Sept: 0)

Highest temp the whole season (Aug 3): 105; Runner-up (Aug 2): 103
Precip (inches): (April: 3.35, May: 1.20, June: 1.03; July: 0.00; August: 0.06; Sept: 1.80)


Seattle 2017:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 4, June: 4, July: 12, August: 11, Sept: 7)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 0, August: 5, Sept: 2)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 25): 96; Runner-up: (Aug 3): 94
Precip (inches): (April: 4.21, May: 2.28; June: 1.52; July: 0.00; August: 0.02; Sept: 0.59)


Vancouver, BC 2017:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 0, July: 0, August: 2, Sept: 0)
 
Highest temp the whole season (Aug 29): 85
Precip (inches): (April: 3.68, May: 2.74, June: 1.11; July: 0.06; August: 0.17; Sept: 0.75)


Astoria, OR 2017:

Days in 80's: (April: 0, May: 1, June: 0, July: 0, August: 3, Sept: 3)
Days in 90's: (April: 0, May: 0, June: 1, July: 0, August: 1, Sept: 1)

Highest temp the whole season (Jun 24, Aug 2): 93
Precip (inches): (April: 7.00, May: 4.08, June: 2.03; July: 0.10; August: 0.20; Sept: 2.24)