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Welcome to the Month in Review briefing! This briefing will highlight the weather of January
2014 as well as the temperature and precipitation outlooks for the month of February 2014.
This graphic is from the High Plains Regional Climate Center and shows the departure from
normal temperatures for the month of January 2014. The time period for the normals is 1981-2010.
A value of zero would mean that the location reported a normal average temperature for
the month of January. Most of the region saw near to above normal temperatures with some
locations in central Oregon and south-central Washington as much as 4 degrees above normal
for the month. The next graphic is also from the High Plains
Regional Climate Center. This shows the percent of normal precipitation for the Northwest
for the month of January 2014. A value of 100% means that the location reported their
average monthly total precipitation. For January 2014, most of the region reported below normal
precipitation values except for portions of the northern Blue Mountains which saw near
to slightly above normal precipitation amounts. High pressure dominated the weather during
the middle of the month of January. This led to stagnant air conditions in the lower elevations.
At the higher elevations, mostly sunny conditions led to afternoon temperatures above normal.
Several weather stations reported record high temperatures the afternoon of the 15th.
Condon, Oregon reported a record high temperature of 56 degrees, beating the previous record
of 55 degrees set in 2010. Heppner, Oregon reported a record high temperature
of 65 degrees, beating the previous record of 60 degrees set in 1976.
Meacham, Oregon reported a record high temperature of 55 degrees, beating the previous record
of 52 degrees set in 1974. Moro, Oregon reported a record high temperature
of 57 degrees, beating the previous record of 56 degrees set in 1973.
Sisters, Oregon reported a record high temperature of 57 degrees, beating the previous record
of 56 degrees set in 2011. Cle Elum, Washington reported a record high
temperature of 55 degrees, beating the previous record of 52 degrees set in 1936.
Ellensburg, Washington reported a record high temperature of 60 degrees, beating the previous
record of 47 degrees set in 2011. Mount Adams Ranger Station in Washington reported
a record high temperature of 59 degrees, beating the previous record of 57 degrees set in 1976.
And Yakima, Washington reported a record high temperature of 61 degrees, breaking the previous
record of 58 degrees set in 1974. Strong winds aloft along with a deep Pacific
storm system led to a few days of strong gusty winds across the region January 11th through
the 12th. Trees were reported down in Athena, The Dalles, Dayton and in Tampico. Trees falling
on power lines in Roslyn, Sunriver, Suttle Lake, and Trout Lake led to power outages.
Other damage included a semi-truck being blown off the road on Highway 240 near West Richland,
sections of a roof being blown off a restaurant in The Dalles and a roof being blown off a
house in Wallowa. Winds were strong enough to blow a 4.5 foot tall child’s playhouse
from the backyard to the front at a home in Tampico, and winds blew recycled materials
and old Christmas trees around in The Dalles.
The highest wind gust reported in the area was at Sedge Ridge, 8 miles west-southwest
of Tampico Washington, with a gust to 90 mph. A weather station 14 miles west-northwest
of West Richland, Washington reported a wind gust to 76 mph.
A weather station 4 miles southwest of Harrah, Washington reported a wind gust to 71 mph.
And weather stations at the Bend and Pasco Airports reported wind gusts to 60 mph.
And now we will turn our attention to the forecast for February 2014.
This graphic is issued by the Climate Prediction Center or CPC and is the Temperature Outlook
for the month of February. The cool colors indicate a greater chance of below normal
temperatures and the warm colors represent a greater chance of above normal temperatures.
The time period for the normals runs from 1981-2010. Washington and the northern portion
of Oregon is forecast to have a greater probability of below normal temperatures for February.
Most of Oregon is in an area called “Equal Chances”. This means that the probability
of the most likely category cannot be determined and the expected likelihood of above, below,
or near normal temperatures doesn’t differ from the climatological odds of 33.3% for
each category. This graphic is CPC's Precipitation Outlook
for the month of February. The green colors represent a greater chance of above normal
precipitation, and the brown colors represent a greater chance of below normal precipitation.
Most of the Pacific Northwest is forecast to see an equal chance of above, near or below
normal precipitation for the month of February. The far northeast corner of Oregon and the
southeast part of Washington is forecast to see a greater chance of above normal precipitation.
Please remember that these are probabilities
of averages, and that the day-to-day weather will still vary for the month of February.
This concludes our briefing. Please continue
to visit National Weather Service web pages for the latest weather information including
watches, warnings and advisories. Thank you for your time.