Salem saw its hottest July on record this year, spurred by a record breaking stretch of 100-degree days and unseasonably warm weather afterward.
It added up to Salem’s hottest July on record, with an average temperature of 74.4, breaking a record set in 2021 of 73.3, according to Adam Batz, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Portland office.
Despite a trend of hotter summers, July’s sweltering temperatures caught Oregon climate scientists off guard, said Larry O’Neill, director of Oregon Climate Services and associate professor in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University.
It was very warm, very early in the season, O’Neill said.
Salem saw its longest stretch of over 100 degree days July 5 through 9, which broke daily top temperature records set between 1926 and 1960, according to the National Weather Service. The hottest day this July was the ninth, which reached 106 degrees.
That week, hundreds of Salemites sought shelter from the heat in cooling centers, and outreach groups distributed water and other needed supplies throughout the community.
“There was a historically strong heat wave, so it was long-lasting and intense. And it occurred several weeks earlier than we usually get heat waves here,” O’Neill said.
After the heat wave, O’Neill said it was warmer than normal throughout the state, about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than normal most days.
It’s driven by climate change, O’Neill said.
“Heat waves have been a very natural part of our climate system, our weather during the summer,” he said. “But they’re occurring more frequently. They’re more intense, and they’re happening earlier in the season.”
It’s a pattern in the last couple years, such as the June 2021 heat dome, and last year.
“It’s really relentless heat,” he said.
Along with climate change, he said typical weather predictors have become less reliable. El Niño climate patterns bring typically warmer summers than average, but big heat waves came the past two summers during La Niña patterns, when temperatures are generally cooler.
Ahead of this year, there was a slightly above average snowpack in Oregon, which he said used to indicate a less intense drought in the summer. That’s not lining up anymore either.
In June, climate scientists hoped that snowpack and good reservoir levels would mean a quieter fire season than normal because of the added moisture as it would have meant in years past. Then, the early-July heat wave evaporated off that saved water.
“We got that heat wave, and now a lot of the state is in drought conditions and we’re having one of the worst wildfire seasons we’ve ever had,” O’Neill said. “That’s something we could not have anticipated based on the amount of precipitation and snow that we got.”
“Currently the reservoirs are doing okay across the state, but the landscape itself is much drier than normal,” he said. “What that means is that, for instance, if you’re an agricultural livestock producer, that you’re using a lot more water to get the same amount of yield.”
Mid-July to the end of August is typically the peak of the heat wave season throughout the state, he said, meaning the area has likely seen its hottest days this summer.
But there are hotter, drier days in the years ahead.
“In short: yes it will get worse,” O’Neill said.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
