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Everybody knows Portland is a destination for California transplants.
Here's one more reason for that migration pattern: Oregon has remained a relative oasis from scorching heat.
Related: Portland is Now the Fourth-Most Popular Destination For People Fleeing Silicon Valley
With climate change causing temperatures to rise globally, the state's comparative climate stability starts to look like a serious draw.
The Seattle Times first reported today that Oregon is second only to Washington for states that have experienced the least amount of warming in the past 30 years.
That finding is based on data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. On average, the NOAA data shows, the temperature in the U.S. has risen by almost 1.6 degrees over the last three decades. Alaska topped the list of warming states, with a temperature leap of around 2.4 degrees.
Washington was the only state to have experienced a temperature increase of less than a degree—rising by just over half a degree. And in Oregon, the temperature rose just over one degree.
By comparison, California and Arizona both experienced temperatures hikes just shy of two degrees, on average.
Why the relative stable temperatures in the Pacific Northwest? Nick Bond, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington tells The Seattle Times it could be thanks to our proximity to the Pacific Ocean.
"The oceans are absorbing most of the heat from the higher concentration of greenhouse gases," he says. "But the heat capacity of the ocean is so large, it still hasn't warmed up as much as land areas."
Bond also points out that from a climate perspective, 30 years is not enough time to accurately depict warming trends.
Either way, Oregon's appeal as an environmental utopia is sure to continue to spur in-migration. It's one of the big reasons why local leaders continue to search for ways to fund enough housing to keep pace.