HAPPY VALLEY, OREGON WEATHER: FEBRUARY 2023
TEMPERATURES
Overall, February was a colder-than-usual month, averaging 3 to 4 degrees below Normal. As happened in 2022, February 2023 was a topsy-turvy one as the warmest weather was at the beginning of the month while the coldest and most of the snowy weather waited until the final week.
Maximum Temperatures through the first 8 days remained in the 46-50-degree range, followed by the month’s warmest temperature of 55.9° on the 9th then dropping back to 40°-50° through mid-month. Arctic air finally plunged into our area on strong east winds through the Columbia River Gorge late on the 21st, turning the rain into an unexpected heavy snowfall on the 22nd-23rd. Two sub-freezing Maximum Temperatures occurred on the 23rd and 24th (29.5° and 29.8°) following the snowfall before rebounding into the upper 30s to 40° over the month’s final 4 days.
Minimum Temperatures varied more than Maximums through the month, with sub-freezing readings scattered throughout but the coldest Minimums occurred from the 23rd-25th, managing only from 20.5° to 21.7°, with the month’s final 3 days all remaining just above freezing. In all, 10 days made it down to ≤32°.
Splitting the month in two, the Max/Min/Mean Temperatures were thus: 1st-14th: 48.4°/36.1°/42.2°; 15th-28th 42.6°/31.9°/37.2°, the departures for the second half vs. the first half being -5.8°/-4.2°/-5.0°. The greatest diurnal range was 20.0° on the 2nd (49.4°/29.4°); the least was only 4.5° on the 28th (37.5°/33.0°).
HAPPY VALLEY FEBRUARY 2023 STATS:
PRECIPITATION
Though half of this February’s 28 days recorded measurable precipitation, the total of 3.20″ was below the average of 4.63″ (69% of Normal for this location). The first half of the month saw a total of 1.47″ fall over 8 days (2 of which had measurable snowfall (13th & 14th) while the second half measured 1.73″ on 6 days (4 with measurable snowfall).
Snowfall totaled 10.0″ for the month, with a Trace or more observed on 9 days and measurable snowfall on 6 of those days (2 being ≥1.0″). The maximum calendar-day amount was the 6.7″ on the 22nd (storm total of 6.8″ through the 23rd). The final 8 days of the month recorded at least a Trace of snowfall each day, except on the 24th.
Maximum Snowfall Depth: 6.0″ (22nd, Midnight Observation); 6.5″ (23rd, 07:00 Observation).
≥0.25″: 5
≥0.50″: 1
≥1.00″: 0
≥0.25″: 5
≥0.50″: 3
≥1.00″: 0
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
Sky Cover Days: 3 Clear, 12 Partly Cloudy, and 13 Cloudy.
Barometric Pressure: Average Maximum/Minimum readings were 30.20″/29.95″, with the Highest Daily Value of 30.54” (8th), the Lowest Daily Reading of 29.41” (27th).
Relative Humidity: Maximum/Minimum Averages were 93%/72%, having a Daily Maximum of 97% (8th, 12th,14th, 22nd, 28th); Daily Minimum of 47% (2nd).
Dew Point: Averages were a Maximum/Minimum of 40°/31°, with a Daily Maximum of 48° (5th & 10th), Daily Minimum of 14° (24th).
Wind: The Daily Average Speed was 1.3 mph from the SW, and the highest Daily Average was 6.2 mph from the NNE (24th); the Daily Average Gust was 13.6 mph and the Highest Gust reached 28 mph from the N (24th).
HAPPY VALLEY MONTHLY WEATHER FORM: FEBRUARY 2023 (click the month to access a pdf of the form).
For the three official Portland National Weather Service weather stations, here is Temperature and Precipitation data for each location for FEBRUARY 2023:
The 3 official Portland stations were slightly-above Normal temperature-wise, precipitation being well-below Normal:
February 2023 Max/Min/Mean Temperatures (and Departures from Normal for 30-Year Period 1991-2020):
– PDX Airport: 48.0°/34.5°/41.2° (-3.5°/-2.3°/-2.9°)
– Downtown: 47.4°/38.6°/43.0° (-4.2°/-3.8°/-3.9°)
– WFO: 46.4°/33.7°/40.0° (-4.1°/-3.5°/-3.9°)
February 2023 Precipitation (Departures, Percentages from Normal for the 30-Year Period 1991-2020):
– PDX Airport: 2.49″ (-1.19″, 67.7%)
– Downtown: 2.74″ (-2.00″, 57.8%)
– WFO: 2.93″ (-1.60″, 64.7%)
Data Periods of Record for these stations:
Portland – Downtown (currently at KGW-TV) – Period of Record: since 1/1871.
Portland International Airport (PDX) – Period of Record: since 11/1940.
Portland – National Weather Service Forecast Office (WFO) – Period of Record: since 2/1996.
Cover photo: Heavy Snowfall in Happy Valley_2023-02-22