Prominence 2,829 ft (862 m) Elevation 1,095 m | Topo map USGS Laurel Mountain | |
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Listing Oregon county high points Location Polk County, Oregon, U.S. Parent range Central Oregon Coast Range Mountain range Central Oregon Coast Range, Oregon Coast Range Similar South Saddle Mountain, Crane Mountain, Trask Mountain, Marys Peak, Saddle Mountain | ||
Laurel Mountain is the fourth highest peak in Oregon's Central Coast Range with an elevation of 3,592 feet (1,095 m). The peak is located in Polk County west of the city of Dallas. In 1997 it was labeled the wettest place in Oregon, and in 1996 it set an all-time calendar year rainfall record for the contiguous United States with 204.04 inches (5,182.6 mm).
Contents
Map of Laurel Mountain, Oregon 97344, USA
Climate
Laurel Mountain has a hyperhumid maritime climate, on the border between Mediterranean (Csb), oceanic (Cfb) and subpolar oceanic (Cfc/Csc). Rainfall is extremely heavy between October and April, and even in the dry months of July and August fog is very frequent and prevents soils and vegetation from drying out appreciably. In November 2006 the mountain received over 49.59 inches (1,259.6 mm) of rain – six days were lost due to gauge overflows – and in the record wet December 1996 throughout the Pacific Northwest 49.57 inches (1,259.1 mm).
Despite winter temperatures being above freezing on an average 72 of 89 afternoons – and minima above 32 °F (0 °C) on 31 mornings during a typical winter – precipitation is so heavy that snow cover in an average January reaches 9 inches (0.23 m), whilst the record seasonal snowfall is 323.50 inches (8.22 m) between July 1998 and June 1999. Since 1978 extreme temperatures have ranged from −11 °F (−23.9 °C) on December 24, 1983 to 94 °F (34.4 °C) on July 22 of 2005, though in the thirty-five years of record only fourteen minima below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) have been recorded.