It’s past time for the National Weather Service to be more factual about the temperature reports from Oak Harbor.

It’s been going on for years, but last week’s example was particularly dreadful. When Seattle, Everett and Bellingham were sweltering in 103 degree heat, Oak Harbor was pegged out at 88. Earlier in the week, the weather service set the temperature at 71 on Monday, but the KING TV “weather station” in Oak Harbor measured it at 86 degrees.

As reported in the July 29 Whidbey News-Times, the reason for the discrepancy is the location of the weather stations. KING TV places its station on top of Oak Harbor Elementary School, in the heart of Oak Harbor.

In contrast, the National Weather Service station isn’t even in the city limits. It’s located at the end of a runway at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. Look at a map, and you’ll see the air station and a long stretch of open water called the Strait of Juan de Fuca that connects directly to the Pacific Ocean. That’s pure ocean air hitting the thermometer, unwarmed by mountains or other land masses.

Meanwhile, the city of Oak Harbor basks in temperatures more than 10 degrees warmer than those reported to the world. This could have paid some positive dividends during the rare heat wave last week. Perhaps mainland residents saw the temperature reports on TV, loaded the kids in the station wagon and headed to Oak Harbor for a respite from the heat. Imagine their disappointment to find it was just as hot here as there.

But most of the time, the cooler temperatures are a detriment to Oak Harbor business. One of the city’s goals is to increase tourism. The first thing that needs to be done is to stop the media from reporting that it’s 60 degrees in Oak Harbor when it’s 75 degrees everywhere else. After the Puget Sound area’s nine-month cloudy season, people are looking for warmth in the summer, not another place to shiver.

We don’t know how complicated it is to move a National Weather Service thermometer. Perhaps U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen can write up an earmark to get the job done. But it should be moved as soon as possible. Preferably somewhere within the city limits of Oak Harbor, so residents and prospective visitors alike know what the temperature really is.