NOUS46 KPQR 060300 PNSPQR PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 700 PM PST THU FEB 5 2004 ...2003 ASTORIA YEAR IN REVIEW... FOR THE YEAR OF 2003...ASTORIA EXPERIENCED MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IN FACT...THE AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE RANKED 2003 AS ONE OF THE WARMEST YEARS IN ASTORIA SINCE RECORD TAKING BEGAN AT THE ASTORIA AIRPORT IN 1953. THIS ABNORMALLY WARM WEATHER REALLY CANNOT BE BLAMED ON AN EL NINO/LA NINA PHENOMENA AS WEAK LA NINA CONDITIONS EARLY IN THE CALENDAR YEAR TRANSITIONED TO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS DURING THE SPRING AND REMAINED AS SUCH FOR THE REST OF 2003. ...NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS... JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WERE ABNORMALLY PLEASANT WINTER MONTHS CHARACTERIZED BY PREDOMINANT OFFSHORE FLOW WITH JANUARY 2003 BEING POSSIBLY THE WARMEST EVER RECORDED. HOWEVER...JAN 2ND BROUGHT THE FIRST STORM OF THE NEW YEAR WITH 60 TO 70 MPH WIND GUSTS ALONG THE NORTH COAST. JAN 29 THROUGH JAN 31 BROUGHT EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINS TO THE AREA WITH 4 TO 7 INCHES OF RAIN WIDELY REPORTED OVER DURING THIS 3 DAY STRETCH. LOCALIZED FLOODING WAS REPORTED...PARTICULARLY ALONG HWY 101 WHICH HAD TO BE CLOSED IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS DUE TO HIGH WATER AND LANDSLIDES. HOWEVER...DUE TO THE DRY WEATHER IN THE PRECEDING MONTHS...RIVER LEVELS AND COASTAL MOUNTAIN SNOW PACK WERE QUITE LOW FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AND PREVENTED MORE DAMAGING FLOODING. RAINFALL AND STORMINESS RETURNED IN EARNEST TO THE ASTORIA AREA IN MARCH AND APRIL. NOT ONLY WERE HEAVY RAINFALL EVENTS COMMON DURING THESE MONTHS...BUT THE NUMBER OF RAINFALL DAYS WAS INCREDIBLY HIGH. MARCH 2003 TURNED OUT TO BE THE 2ND WETTEST MARCH IN THE HISTORY OF ASTORIA. SEVERAL STRONG STORMS ALSO BATTERED THE COAST WITH STRONG WINDS DURING MARCH...MOST NOTABLY ON THE 7TH THROUGH 9TH...11TH THROUGH 13TH...AND 20TH THROUGH 22ND. THE RAINS BEGAN TO TAPER OFF IN MAY SETTING THE STAGE FOR VERY WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS IN JUNE...JULY...AND AUGUST. AS TRANQUIL AS THE CONDITIONS ON LAND WERE DURING THE SUMMER...THE PACIFIC OCEAN REMAINED VOLATILE WITH FREQUENT LARGE SWELL CONDITIONS. TRAGICALLY...ON JUNE 15TH...A 32 FOOT FISHING CHARTER CAPSIZED IN TILLAMOOK BAY KILLING 11 OF THE 19 ON BOARD DUE TO THE HIGH SURF CONDITIONS DURING A PARTICULARLY STRONG EBB CURRENT. STORMINESS REVISITED THE OREGON COAST BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER WITH A WATERSPOUT REPORTED WEST OF SEASIDE ON SEPTEMBER 16TH. HIGH WINDS BEGAN TO AFFECT THE COAST AGAIN IN OCTOBER WITH GUSTS TO 69 MPH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH. BY NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER...LATE AUTUMN/EARLY WINTER CONDITIONS TOOK HOLD FIRMLY ALONG THE COAST WITH WIND GUSTS ABOVE 70 MPH REPORTED ON NOVEMBER 16TH AND 27TH/28TH. COLD AIR BEGAN TO MAKE A RETURN TO COAST BY THE END OF DECEMBER SETTING THE STAGE FOR 2004. ...RECORDS SET IN 2003... .HIGH TEMPERATURES... .LOW TEMPERATURES... .PRECIPITATION... JANUARY 6TH - 63 MAY 18TH - 36 JANUARY 29TH - 1.04 JANUARY 25TH - 60 NOVEMBER 1ST - 26 MARCH 21ST - 2.48 MAY 27TH - 80 NOVEMBER 4RD - 27 NOVEMBER 28TH - 1.97 JUNE 5TH - 90 JULY 28TH - 82 AUGUST 14TH - 80 AUGUST 17TH - 74 SEPTEMBER 27TH - 84 OCTOBER 26TH - 72 ===================================================================== ...PRELIMINARY CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR ASTORIA AIRPORT 2003... ...TEMPERATURE DATA AVG AVG AVG DEPARTURE TEMPERATURE MONTH HIGH LOW MEAN FROM NORMAL HIGHEST/LOWEST REMARKS JAN 53.7 43.1 48.4 +6.0 63 34 FEB 51.6 36.6 44.1 -0.1 62 28 MAR 53.3 41.9 47.6 +1.6 66 30 APR 54.8 42.0 48.4 -0.1 64 36 MAY 60.5 44.4 52.5 -0.2 80 36 JUN 66.5 50.7 58.6 +1.9 90 44 JUL 69.7 53.8 61.8 +1.7 82 44 AUG 69.7 53.1 61.4 +0.6 80 46 SEP 69.5 49.6 59.5 +1.0 84 41 OCT 61.9 49.0 55.4 +2.8 72 31 NOV 52.0 38.6 45.3 -1.3 59 26 DEC 49.4 38.7 44.1 +1.3 59 26 ANNUAL 59.4 45.1 52.3 +1.3 90 26 WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE...90 ON JUN 5TH COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE...26 ON NOV 1ST AND DEC 30TH LAST SPRING FROST DAY...MAR 24TH FIRST FALL FROST DAY...OCT 31ST ...RAINFALL DATA TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE REMARKS MONTH PRECIP PRECIP FROM NORMAL JAN 12.07 9.62 +2.45 FEB 4.75 7.87 -3.12 MAR 13.45 7.37 +6.08 2ND WETTEST APR 5.79 4.93 +0.86 MAY 2.19 3.28 -1.09 JUN 0.88 2.57 -1.69 JUL 0.26 1.16 -0.90 AUG 0.10 1.21 -1.11 3RD DRIEST SEP 1.93 2.61 -0.68 OCT 6.26 5.61 +0.65 NOV 9.75 10.50 -0.75 DEC 9.87 10.40 +0.53 ANNUAL 67.30 67.13 +0.17 WATER YEAR 2002-2003 60.88 -6.25 ...WIND DATA STRONGEST WIND GUST...61 MPH FROM THE SOUTH ON NOV 28TH FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PORTLAND/CLIMATE (ALL LOWERCASE)