Apr 7, 2025 - Climate
How Oregon's rainfall patterns shifted over 50 years
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Rainstorms have become only slightly more intense in Portland over the last half century, according to a new analysis — but other parts of Oregon have seen dramatic dips in precipitation.
The big picture: Hourly rainfall intensity increased between 1970 and 2024 in nearly 90% of the 144 locations analyzed, a report from the nonprofit Climate Central found.
- In Portland, rainfall intensity increased by just 0.3%.
Yes, but: Eugene saw one of the biggest declines in rainfall intensity, with a drop of nearly 35%.
How it works: The researchers divided each location's total annual rainfall by its total hours of annual rainfall, using NOAA weather station data.
- That approach quantifies how much rain fell for each hour it was raining in a given year.