Central Oregon may have just experienced its hottest July on record.

Last month the average daytime maximum temperature at Redmond Airport was a scorching 94.8 degrees, according to data compiled by the National Weather Service in Pendleton. That beat the previous July record of 93.1 degrees, set in both 1998 and 2021.

The hottest day last month in Redmond was 107 degrees, set on July 9. The record for the hottest July day was 109 degrees set on July 29, 2022.

The average temperature last month — 72.7 degrees — was also the hottest in recorded history for July. The previous record was 72.3 degrees set in 2021 and 2022.

July also produced seven new daily high temperatures. Of the 10 hottest July days on record, eight occurred in the past three years.

Temperature data for Redmond goes back to 1949, and it is the region’s most reliable weather data. Data for the time period in Bend is incomplete, according to the weather service.

Over 1.3 million acres burned

The blistering heat and dry conditions have sparked scores of fires around Central Oregon and across the state. Jessica Neujahr, a public affairs officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said there are currently 31 uncontained large fires, slightly down from a peak of 41 last month.

Year to date there have been over 1,300 fire starts statewide, human-caused and lighting-caused, she said.

These fires have burned over 1.3 million acres statewide, said Neujahr, well above the 10-year average of 621,044 acres.

“So we have easily doubled the 10-year average, and the season isn’t even halfway over,” she said. “These are conditions we’d normally see in August, and they started in July.”

The Northwest is the No. 1 region in priority nationwide for wildfires, which helps prioritize resources for the area, said Neujahr.

Large fires in Central Oregon over the past month include the 64,288-acre Crazy Creek Fire burning 5 miles north of Paulina and the 137,222-acre Lone Rock Fire burning southeast of Condon.

Statewide heat

Larry O’Neil, an associate professor at Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, said Portland, Salem and Eugene also experienced their warmest Julys on record. He said these extreme temperatures are becoming more frequent.

“Heat waves are a natural part of our climate system, which means that we do get relatively warm months. However, because of climate change, we are observing heat waves in Oregon and around the world to occur more frequently, last longer, and occur earlier in the year,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil said the hot summer conditions can be partially attributed to natural weather phenomena including the so-called Pacific decadal oscillation caused by ocean temperature anomalies. This weather pattern makes warmer temperatures slightly more likely.

The outlook for the rest of the summer is for a strong chance of continued well above-normal temperatures and below-average precipitation, said O’Neil. Weather forecasts do not currently show a strong heat wave on the horizon.

“In Oregon, the precipitation during August mainly comes in the form of thunderstorms, and there is a higher chance than normal that we will not see as many as we typically do,” he said. “Usually, the thunderstorms act to cool things down, so the general lack of them will contribute to warmer than normal weather.”