Joseph Oregon Climate

Q: Generally, what’s the weather like in Joseph Oregon and the Wallowa Valley?

This article provides a general seasonal description and the most asked about statistical data from the National Weather Service; like most statistics, it gives you an accurate idea of of the weather averages, but almost always leaves out the odd extremes.

And there are extremes; in the last 20 years, snow has fallen on the Forth of July -twice! 

In the last 50 years, winter snow has covered the tops of fencepost’s. There’s the odd storm that brings winds of over 90 mph and lightning that lasts for hours. These are the weather events that people love to talk about, but are hard to find in the data.

In the last ten years the area, like much of the world, has been warming up. Old timers will tell you that we haven’t had a ‘real winter” for a long time.
Springs are also wetter. Other Links of interest:

Today’s NOAA Joseph Oregon Forecast

Current Road Conditions, N.E. Oregon

Winter-
Long and Cold with many bright, dry, sunny days to enjoy the winter snow.
The effect of a ‘dry cold’ and feeling more comfortable then you might think
is experienced by most. Snow comes around November and lasts through April,
with one or two good storms that might dump 10″ or more. Snow packed roads
might last a few months but usually only about three weeks. A warm wind, or
‘Chinook,’ occasionally comes and thaws the entire valley in a day. Ground
snow normally consolidates to well under a foot. For a week or two, very
cold weather will grip the area with nighttime temperatures dropping below
zero.

Spring-
Cold to mild and usually wet. Spring rains vary widely depending on the
location in the valley, with proximity to the mountains being the
influencing factor. Rainfall can double in just a six mile stretch.

Summer-
Beautiful warm sunny days and mild to cold nights. A few weeks of hot
weather and the occasional thunderstorm, sometimes severe. High mountain
passes in the wilderness usually thaw in the first or second week of July.

Fall-
Warm to mild with cool to cold nights, normally dry. A long Indian Summer is
common. This time of year is favored by most of the locals, with many warm
days even in the high country.

Wind-
Generally the area is calm but whenever
storms approach and the pressure changes, the mountains funnel air through
the canyons in a rough and gusty manner. All the mountain canyons around
Joseph behave this way, although simultaneously one may be windy while
another is calm.

Monthly Weather Averages, 1971 to 2000, Joseph Oregon

	Type	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	TL
	Normal Monthly Maximum Temp	37	40	46	53	60	67	79	80	69	57	44	35	56° F
	Normal Monthly Minimum Temp	18	20	24	29	36	42	47	46	40	31	25	17	31° F
	Extreme Monthly High Temp	57	59	69	76	82	87	95	94	94	82	70	54
	Extreme Monthly Low Temp	-22	-25	2	11	18	26	31	33	20	11	7	-17
	Normal Precipitation Totals	1.16	.97	1.31	1.59	2.71	1.64	1.29	.74	1.68	1.37	1.56	1.03	17.05″
	Avg. Ground Snow Depth	2.6	2.6	1.3	.3	–	–	–	–	–	–	.4	.7	0.7″
	Extreme Ground Snow Depth	18	11	10	6	2	–	–	–	–	3	6	7
	Normal Snowfall Totals	11.5	6.1	9.5	5.5	.4	–	–	–	–	1.5	5.6	5.8	45.9″

Records, for all years since 1893, Joseph Ranger Station

	Record High Temps	100° on 7/8/1919, 7/10/1917	99° on 7/12/2002, 7/9/1919,7/14 ~16/1917	98° on 7/13/2002, 7/14/1935
	Record Low Temps	–34° on 12/18/1924	-32° on 12/17/1924	-30° on 12/19/1924
	Record Snowfall Days	16″ on 1/21/1894	14″ on 3/12/1906	13″ on 1/23/1943
	Record Rainfall Days	2.50″ on 9/23/1917	2.00″ on 8/3/1953	1.93″ on 5/16/1921
	Annual Precipitation Totals, 1948 to 2006	Wettest: 1998 –22.6″	Driest: 1949 – 12.1″	Snowiest: 1996 –63.9″

Get Today’s NOAA Joseph Oregon Forecast

Current Road Conditions, N.E. Oregon

Local saying: ‘Only fools and newcomers try to predict the weather in Wallowa County.’