After a Record Dry April, This Month’s Precipitation Is Well Below Average

This week’s rain is unlikely to change the severe to extreme drought conditions that most of Oregon is currently experiencing.

Landmark Saloon (Mick Hangland-Skill)
By Shannon Gormley

Portland’s streak of abnormally dry weather has continued into May.

Following the driest April on record, May has also brought far less precipitation than usual. Between May 1 and 23, Portland received only 0.13 inches of rainfall. Although it’s not record-breaking—the driest May on record was in 1992, with 0.10 inches—this month’s precipitation has been well below normal.

According to the National Weather Service, Portland typically gets closer to 1.84 inches of rain each May. Last May, in a year the area also suffered a drought that contributed to megafires across the state, the city got 1.83 inches of rain.

But even taking into account today’s rain and Wednesday’s drizzly forecast, it’s unlikely that Portland will see more than a cumulative half-inch of rain this month. That’s unlikely to change the severe to extreme drought conditions that most of Oregon is currently experiencing.

“If I were to do a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation, I wouldn’t necessarily write off another quarter of an inch [this week],” says David Bishop, a meteorologist for the Portland branch of the National Weather Service, “but it’s still very variable at this point.”

June is predicted to bring more hot, dry weather. Next week, Portland is forecast to have sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s.

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