Cool, wet summer yields Portland’s hottest July and ‘the best’ sunflowers. What gives?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 3, 2023

Maybe your garden’s tomatoes and sunflowers were late this summer thanks to so much rain and so many clouds, but there was one perk: The stormy weather kept things cooler, cutting down on the need for air conditioners. And yet, Portland recorded its warmest July on record because the same cloud cover that kept things cool during the day also made it warmer at night. “We never got to 90 degrees (this summer) in Portland, which is very unusual,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Thunberg. This summer will also go down as the seventh wettest on record in Portland. Augusta broke a record with 52 days of rain.