Oregon’s string of hot years continued in 2021, which finished as the fifth-warmest in records dating back to 1895.
It was also a dry year — and an exceptionally dry summer — although the impact was far worse on the east side than on the west side, according to NOAA data from weather stations across the state.
Oregon’s statewide average temperature was 49.2 degrees in 2021, which is 2.5 degrees warmer than normal and adds another recent year to the list of hottest years on record.
Of the 12 hottest years ever recorded, eight have been recorded since 2000 and six have come since 2010, as climate change moves Oregon’s weather closer to California than Washington.
“What’s most concerning is that this was a La Nina year, when we’d traditionally expect colder or at least historically normal temperatures,” Oregon state climatologist Larry O’Neill said.