The objective of this investigation was to determine the relationship between potential evaporation, according to the Penman‐Monteith evaporation formula, and measured evaporation in saw timber piles of Scots pine(Pinus sylvestrisL.). The local climate and the water balance of a timber pile were investigated at two geographically different experimental sites, one in southern Norway and one in central Sweden. The results showed that the relationship was significant at both experimental sites, showing a correlation coefficient of 0.71 in Norway and 0.52 in Sweden. At both experimental sites, the potential evaporation had higher average values and between‐day variations than measured evaporation, probably because the Pen‐man‐Monteith formula is too sensitive to variation in meteorological variables. The formula overestimated the evaporation during periods with high evaporation demand, which might be explained by the stronger feed‐back between evaporation and cooling of the air at saw timber piles than at the position of the climate station. A seasonal variation of standard residuals between potential and measured values was observed at both experimental sites. The Penman‐Monteith evaporation formula estimated the evaporation well during July and August, whereas overestimation occurred during June and September.