Portland area loses 85 minutes of daylight in August

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Summer sunshine is set to fade around Portland despite dangerous heat building this week.

After the summer solstice, the northern hemisphere begins to lose daylight hours. August just so happens to bring on a big decrease in the amount of sunshine the Portland area sees. One of those reasons is due to Portland's more northerly longitude.

At the height of the summer season, Portland sees a total of 15 hours and 41 minutes of daylight. That's much greater than the 8 hours and 42 minutes of daylight seen during the winter solstice, the point in which the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.

It will likely remain sunny and hot during the month of August, but Portland is set to lose about 85 minutes of daylight this month. That's about a two to three-minute loss of daylight each day. That's far more than the southern states where only about 30 minutes is lost over the next 30 days. This is due to the difference in longitude.

How come August is the warmest month of the year in Portland, yet the amount of daylight is quickly fading? That's due to a process called thermal lag. That's where heat continues to build even after the peak of the heat and daylight is seen.