Post # 7: The Possible Affects of Climate Change

 

The graph below was posted earlier in post #4 However, re-analyzing these graphs can point to some evidence of global climate change. The high temperatures recorded in the graph over the last 70 years is pretty constant, however, looking at the lows and the average, some trend in increasing temperatures can be seen.

 While some trends can be seen, the information on this blog isn’t truly enough to show evidence of climate change. However enough information does exist to support global climate change. Therefore, it is important to consider the effects that climate change could have on the city of Portland. The first and most obvious effect is the rise in ocean tides. This would cause major problems as far as the infrastructure of the city, especially around the ocean shore. Flooding would occur causing major property loss and possibly result in the loss of lives, especially if the change occurred fast enough. Not only that, but the change in ocean tides also would affect the rivers that run through the city. Even minor changes in salinity would hurt the salmon and other wildlife that depend on these rivers. This would in turn affect all of the wildlife in the area. Recreation would also be impacted as wildlife transitioned to find food and breeding grounds. Everything from fishing, hunting, hiking, and rafting as well as many other outdoor activities would be impacted by a slight shift in ocean tide levels.

Another impact that global climate change would have on Portland is increased levels of precipitation. Being so close to an ocean, anything that affects the ocean will affect the city of Portland. A rising in global temperature would cause increased ocean temperature. This in turn would cause more water to evaporate. This gives more fuel to storm systems which means either more systems will develop or the intensity of the storms will increase. A heating of the ocean would also mean that the intensity of sea breezes would increase because the temperature difference between the land and sea would be greater. This would further prevent snow and ice storms meaning an even greater percentage of the precipitation the city receives would be in the form of rain.

Original data from:
         National Weather Service Forecast Office. "Portland, OR." 7 Mar., 2013. Web.
         25 Mar.,2014. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/local_data.php?wfo=PQR

Post #5: Larger Weather Patterns

There are several different factors to the weather systems that dictate the climate in Portland. One of the most prominent is the fact that the ocean is just to the west of the city. This allows maritime polar air masses to come from the west. These air masses are characterized by a cooler temperature and lots of moisture. These air masses dictate much of the climate of Portland as can be seen through the discussion following.

Looking at the below picture showing wind direction, it can be seen that 37% of the time the wind blows from the west. The wind that blows from the east can also be a result of the sea breeze effect, meaning that wind will change directions at night.

Average Time in Percentages of Wind Direction

 Mid-latitude cyclones can form above the ocean and come into Portland. These storms do not generally result in massive hurricanes, rather they bring condensation and cloud cover. They can be quite large in area. This makes it possible for the same storm to move in from the west and "remain" over the city for a few days at a time. The chance of rain on any given day based on averages can be seen in the graph below.

Chance of Rain During the Day

As can be seen, the chance of precipitation rarely falls below 20%. While this isn't a great indicator, it does offer a picture of how the precipitation the area receives ranges over the months of a year. Perhaps a better indicator of climate is to compare what kind of precipitation an area receives. This can be noted by the image below which shows the type of precipitation Portland receives.

Precipitation Type Percentages

Looking at this figure, it can be noted how prominent rain is in the precipitation Portland receives. This indicates a relatively mild climate where the temperatures rarely drop below freezing.

Images from:
WeatherSpark. "Average Weather for Portland, Oregon, USA." Weatherspark.com. 2012. Web. 7 April, 2014. http://weatherspark.com/averages/31237/Portland-Oregon-United-States

Post #4: Yearly Averages

In the previous blog, graphs of the monthly averages for temperature and precipitation for Portland were shown. This entry includes yearly averages of the high and low temperatures as well as the average temperature and annual precipitation.

The data shown covers from 1941 to 2012. The original data had high and low temperatures as well as the precipitation recorded as daily values. The average of all of these values was taken to derive the yearly average for the temperatures. For precipitation, all of the values were added together to derive the annual value. It should be noted that the original data also had partial data for the year 1940 and 2013. Because this data was only partial, it was excluded from the yearly average because the results were unreasonable outliers.

Original data from:
National Weather Service Forecast Office. "Portland, OR." 7 Mar., 2013. Web. 25 Mar.,2014. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/local_data.php?wfo=PQR

Post #3: Monthly Weather

Portland, Oregon is classified as Cfc/Cfb in the Koeppen System. This is the mild mid-latitude classification and more specifically the marine climate. This climate has wet winters, with only slight chances of freezing, followed by extremely humid, hot summers that are generally very short. The factors that make Portland part of this system are due to location.

The mid-latitude cyclones that are present during much of the year are the cause of much of the weather that Portland receives. The other major factor that affects winds and temperature is the relative proximity to the ocean. Because Portland is close to the ocean, the sea breezes help to keep the winter mild and the summers cooler. The proximity to the ocean also allows for more precipitation in the area. The climate Portland has fits the classification of C.

A graph of the overall average of the Cfc/Cfb precipitation and the temperature is shown below. As well as related graphs for Portland, Oregon.

 Graph of C averages and information:

Pidwirny, Michael. “Moist Mid-latitude Climates with Mild Winters-C Climate Type.” 25 Mar.,   2011. Web. 13 Mar., 2014. http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/162272/

 

Graphs for Portland derived from information from:

“Monthly Weather for Portland.” The Weather Channel. 2012. Web. 13 Mar., 2014. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USOR0275

Post #2: Why Portland Plus Some Weather

I was born in Portland, which is partly why I chose this city for this blog. The other reason is that I absolutely love the rain. I think the weather would be absolutely perfect. Portland is located at latitude 45.5987 and longitude -122.60917. The temperatures for every hour for February 22, 2014 are listed below.

Time:                       Temperature(F):
1:53am                       35
2:53am                       33
3:53am                       32
4:53am                       31
5:53am                       31
6:53am                       33
7:53am                       31
8:53am                       34
9:53am                       38
10:53am                     40
11:53am                     42
12:53pm                     45
1:53pm                       45
2:53pm                       46
3:53pm                       46
4:53pm                       46
5:53pm                       45
6:53pm                       44
7:53pm                       43
8:53pm                       42
9:53pm                       42
10:53pm                     41
11:53pm                     41
12:53am                     33

The high temperature for this day was 46 F and the low was 31 F. This is a range of 15 degrees. The average as calculated by taking the mean of all the temperatures is about 39.2 F. The average as calculated by taking the mean of the high and low temperature is 38.5 F. This is a percentage of difference of 2%. For this data set, that means that the two averages are relatively close and could be substituted. However, if the range of the temperatures was greater, this would not be the case. The graph below shows the temperature as well as some other weather features over the last three days.



The graph and statistics were used from:

"Weather Conditions for: Portland, Portland International Airport, OR." National Weather
          Service. 23 Feb, 2014. Web. Accessed: 23 Feb. 2014.   
          http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=pqr&sid=KPDX&num=72&raw=0

Post #1: Portland

Portland, Oregon is a city located less than sixty miles from the Pacific Coast. The Willamette River runs through downtown and the Columbia River runs just to the north. Rain is the most common conditions in this city of 600,000 people with sunny days mostly occurring in the summer months.

Information and photo borrowed from: "Portland (Oregon)." Wikitravel. Feb. 20, 2014. Web. Accessed: Feb. 20, 2014. http://wikitravel.org/en/Portland_(Oregon)