Oregonians hoping to break out their sweaters and fall attire may have to wait a little longer for those crisp cool days.
Temperatures in Salem this week are projected to reach the high 70s daily, with a high of 82 on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Portland. The nights aren’t as cold, and the days have yet to see the typical 60-degree range expected for this time of year.
“I think Mother Nature is trying to catch up the fact that she gave us a chilly June,” said Clinton Rockey, meteorologist for the weather service. “Nonetheless, it’s still a lot warmer than it should be.”
Normally, this time of year the temperature highs are in the mid-60s, he said. The area starts the month of October in the mid-70s, and by the end of the month the highs are on average in the upper 50s.
“So because it’s a transition month we typically start cooling off rapidly,” said Rockey. “So the fact that we are still stuck in these 70s and 80s I think is mostly a byproduct of that we haven’t had our good rains yet. Without those good rains to cool us down and to get the ground wet so that in the long nights we get fog forming, we’re just not having any chance to cool things down.”
By this time of year, northwest Oregon will have typically had a strong cold front or two come through the area. However, Rockey said high pressure is pushing those cold fronts away from the Pacific Northwest and instead into British Columbia and back east.
While abnormal, Salem’s not to record-breaking status yet. The record for Oct. 15th is 90 degrees, and in the next week or so, the area is expected to see cooler weather coming again. The record was set in 1991 when Salem recorded eight days at more than 80 degrees. Salem has already had six days this month with highs more than 80 degrees.
“There is some hope that toward the middle half of next week, we get a change that might finally bring us the kind of weather we typically would expect – a lot more clouds and high 60s to low 70s,” Rockey said.
For now, the weather is perfect for some final fall activities ahead of winter, he said, such as taking a trip to the pumpkin patch, outdoor painting or deck work, “because once the clouds and rain come it’s often hard to get a good dry stretch of weather after that starts up.”
Contact reporter Jordyn Brown at [email protected].
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Jordyn Brown is an Oregon journalist who formerly worked for the Eugene Register-Guard.
