Portland area on pace for 4th driest April in history
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Mild and dry weather has been the norm for the Portland-Vancouver area this April. It's these abnormally dry conditions that have made this Portland's fourth driest April on record.
Portland has seen a total of seven days with measurable rainfall, but the low accumulation amounts and few rainy days have left the metro area with a growing deficit.
Portland has only seen 0.62" of rain so far this month. It's not the driest April ever recorded in Portland. That record remains untouched since 1939 when the city only saw 0.27" of rain.
Portland's rain has been lackluster, but still overcomes the lowest rainfall amounts seen in the past 10 years. The driest month in the record books since 2014 was in 2021 when only 0.39" of rain fell in Portland in the month of April. The wettest month was just a year later in 2022 when nearly six inches fell across the Portland-Vancouver metro area.
The lack of rainfall this month has left much of the Willamette Valley unchanged in the drought department. However, if this drier weather pattern continues, drought conditions will start working their way west again.
Rain is expected to return to much of the Pacific Northwest by Thursday. That's where rain accumulation could be near almost three quarters of an inch in just two days. That would strip Portland of its title of fourth driest April on record.
Much of the Pacific Northwest is expected to end the month of April slightly cooler and wetter. Rain chances return to the region Thursday morning and will take the Rose City into May with rain in the forecast.