PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – April and May are thinking about tagging up to accomplish a task they haven’t done jointly in a decade.
You may be wondering exactly what that is? Well, Portland hasn’t had a back-to-back below-average April and May since 2011. Either both months have been warm, or one or the other has been cool, while the other is warm. If you haven’t lived in Portland since then, you probably are experiencing your coolest spring since arriving.
Currently, Portland has an average temperature of 54.9 degrees. That is -2.1 degrees below the 30-year average. Of course, we have a full month of May to alter that departure. April 2022 finished with an average temperature of 49.7 degrees, which had a departure of -3.1… and 2011 was even colder!
Between April and May, there was only one day that was above average. If you were thinking this April was way too cold, we’ve experienced colder years (even if that’s tough to believe.)
ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL
Below is what the previous 31 days look like in Portland. We have only had four days above average. Let that soak in for a minute! We have only had four days above average. If we hadn’t hit the 70-degree milestone, we would have likely been considered cool.
There have been two days where we were right on average: April 22 and May 1. That leaves 25 days where we were below average.
The largest departure from normal fell on May 8, coming in at -15 (53 degrees). This does confirm that it has been cool. That doesn’t mean it should swing drastically in the other direction. We have had some recent years that both months have had departures that are on the other side of the spectrum (2016,2018, and 2019). Let’s talk more about that!
NUMBERS!
Below is a list of the temperature departure going back to 2011 for the months of April and May. They are color-coded to represent average, above- and below- normal. You will find more red than blue or yellow, dating back to 2011.
Before this year, we had four years in a row where we have seen both April and May above average. Not even by a small departure, most years by a fairly large margin. In fact, the month of May in 2016, 2018 and 2019 are all part of the top five warmest May months on record. April 2016 is the warmest April on record for Portland (departure +5.0).
With all that in mind, there is a chance that this spring feels extra cold. That’s because we have been running much warmer in the early and mid Spring than the average 30-year Portland spring should.
There are no promises that this month will actually finish below average too. If that’s the case, 2011 will continue to hold it down.