HAPPY VALLEY, OREGON WEATHER: MARCH 2023
TEMPERATURES
March 2023 had a very cool start, with Maximums not even reaching 50° until the 11th day. The coolness only was briefly alleviated mid-month before returning to below normal through month’s end. The seasonal streak of Max. Temps. not reaching ≥60° ended at 146 consecutive days on March 16th when it hit 60.3°, the first such occurrence since it was 66.6° back on October 20, 2022. The monthly total of 5 days reaching ≥60° all occurred on the 16th-18th and 21st-22nd, while only 13 days managed to reach ≥50°.
Minimum Temperatures followed the same general pattern as Max. Temps., with the month’s coolest reading of 30.0° on the 8th, which was 1 of only 2 days to reach freezing, the other being 31.8° on the 5th, with a 32.5° reading on the 28th bringing a light frost but just missing a late-in-the-month freeze. Though just 2 days reached freezing, 12 days did fall to ≤35°. The mid-month milder air brought 4 consecutive days remaining ≥40° from the 17th-20th, the highest Min. Temp. being the 45.8° on the 19th. Only 2 more Min. Temps. in the month remained ≥40°, both on the final 2 days.
Splitting the month in two, the Max/Min/Mean Temperatures were thus: 1st-15th: 47.1°/35.0°/41.0°; 16th-31st 54.1°/38.1°/46.1°, the departures for the second half vs. the first half being +7.0°/+3.1°/+5.1°. The greatest diurnal range was 26.5° on the 16th (60.3°/33.8°); the least was only 6.5° on the 20th (49.1°/42.6°).
HAPPY VALLEY MARCH 2023 STATS:
PRECIPITATION
March 2023 averaged almost exactly Normal with a total of 5.29″, being 99.6% of the Normal of 5.31″. Measurable precipitation fell on 23 of the 28 days, with 7 of those days reaching ≥0.25″. The greatest daily amount was the 1.02″ on the 14th. All but one day in the first half of the month had measurable rain, the single day being the 2nd when only a Trace was observed. The second half began with a nice break, with no precipitation falling from the 16th-19th, matched with most of the month’s mildest temperatures. The Maximum Rainfall Rate for March was the 0.48″/Hr at 12:24 on the 23rd.
As happened in 2022, there was a late-season snowfall, this year totaling 1.4″ from two separate events on March 24th & 25th, with Trace amounts on the 23rd & 26th. When including the small amounts of measurable snow on the 7th & 8th, the monthly total was 2.0″, upping the seasonal total to 13.9″.
Total Monthly Snowfall: 2.0“.
Maximum Snowfall Depths: Trace (7th, Midnight Observation); 0.5″ (25th, 07:00 Observation); 0.9″ (25th at 10:30 measurement when snowfall ended).
≥0.25″: 7
≥0.50″: 4
≥1.00″: 1
≥0.25″: 6
≥0.50″: 3
≥1.00″: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
Sky Cover Days: 3 Clear, 13 Partly Cloudy, and 15 Cloudy.
Barometric Pressure: Average Maximum/Minimum readings were 30.06″/29.82″, with the Highest Daily Value of 30.37” (26th), the Lowest Daily Reading of 29.29” (9th).
Relative Humidity: Maximum/Minimum Averages were 93%/66%, having a Daily Maximum of 97% (10 different days); Daily Minimum of 34% (18th).
Dew Point: Averages were a Maximum/Minimum of 44°/33°, with a Daily Maximum of 48° (13th & 19th), Daily Minimum of 29° (8th & 17th).
Wind: The Daily Average Speed was 1.5 mph from the SW, and the highest Daily Average was 3.0 mph from the N (16th); the Daily Average Gust was 14.1 mph and the Highest Gust reached 22 mph from the SSE (3rd) & SW (31st).
HAPPY VALLEY MONTHLY WEATHER FORM: MARCH 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 MARCH 2023:
The 3 official Portland stations were significantly Below Normal temperature-wise, precipitation being Above Normal:
March 2023 Max/Min/Mean Temperatures (and Departures from Normal for 30-Year Period 1991-2020):
– PDX Airport: 52.7°/37.7°/45.2° (-4.1°/-2.0°/-3.1°)
– Downtown: 51.1°/37.1°/44.1° (-4.7°/-3.8°/-4.2°)
– WFO: 51.4°/36.3°/43.8° (-4.9°/-3.2°/-4.1°)
March 2023 Precipitation (Departures, Percentages from Normal for the 30-Year Period 1991-2020):
– PDX Airport: 4.36″ (+0.39″, +109.8%)
– Downtown: 5.40″ (+0.57″, +111.8%)
– WFO: 5.81″ (+1.16″, +125.0%)
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: Anemometer in a Late-Season Snowfall, Happy Valley_2023-03-24