Snow Day on the Oregon Coast

[Iggy]

Pics from my front porch, taken at 7:30 am. Big, BIG change from Arizona!!

[prospectmom]

We are still under a Winter Storm Warning till 4pm and boy has the temp dropped But we we are inland 36 miles from Crater Lake we have probably 6 inches

[Dravin]

I take it that isn't a literal Snow Day? Schools closed and the like? Cuz if so my opinion of Oregon just dropped.

[prospectmom]

we hardly ever close with snow....

[Dravin]

we hardly ever close with snow....

I would have expected as much. You get cold enough and moist enough that you need to own and understand how to operate those strange machines called snow plows. It's the places that don't own them that shut down over a measly couple inches of snow as shown in the shot. :)

[Iggy]

I take it that isn't a literal Snow Day? Schools closed and the like? Cuz if so my opinion of Oregon just dropped.

Yes schools are closed- snow on the coast is very rare! Dravin, this is the pacific coast- Waldport is right on the ocean- the roads are mostly shaded and only higher temps and rain will melt the snow and get rid of the black ice. Right now it is 31 degrees out. Not even warm enough to melt the snow or thaw the black ice.

Prospect Mom - you are 287 miles east and south of Waldport - smack dab in the Willamette National Forest. Of course your schools don't close for snow, other wise they would be closed for most of the winter.

[Dravin]

Yes schools are closed- snow on the coast is very rare!

Depends on the location. Go argue with Valdez that they don't get any snow.

I'm just poking fun, quite a few places roll the dice and figure they don't need to invest in snow plows. It just amuses me that such cities grind to a halt in snow that a lot of places just drive in while they wait for the plows to do their work. For instance the snow in the picture? I've seen school buses running with that much snow on the road. Heck, I've driven a 91 tercel with bad tires in it.

And I'm very aware of what black ice is. I grew up in Alaska. :)

[pam]

I'm anxious to see how much snow gets dropped on us tonight. Supposed to start about 4 pm today. They are saying this one is a huge storm that will cause blizzard like conditions. So not looking forward to it.

[prospectmom]

Yes Iggy We get so much snow that the elementary has snow suits and sleds for recess

[prospectmom]

Iggy we are in the Cascades Willamette is a bit further up

[Dravin]

I'm anxious to see how much snow gets dropped on us tonight. Supposed to start about 4 pm today. They are saying this one is a huge storm that will cause blizzard like conditions. So not looking forward to it.

[prospectmom]

PAMMY ......... stay warm and bundled up inside to survive a blizzard. I wouldn't mind if I was home .... The kids are still hoping they cancell afternoon classes but I doubt it unless it gets to a blizzard state

[pam]

Unfortunately I have to work tonight at 9 pm. One forecaster is predicting this could be the worst storm to hit Utah in 20 years.

[Iggy]

Depends on the location. Go argue with Valdez that they don't get any snow.

I'm just poking fun, quite a few places roll the dice and figure they don't need to invest in snow plows. It just amuses me that such cities grind to a halt in snow that a lot of places just drive in while they wait for the plows to do their work. For instance the snow in the picture? I've seen school buses running with that much snow on the road. Heck, I've driven a 91 tercel with bad tires in it.

And I'm very aware of what black ice is. I grew up in Alaska. :)

Dravin, I jut read your profile and see that you grew up in Alaska, and are now living in Utah.

Before you start poking fun you really should do a little research.

FYI, I moved to Waldport in 1978. In Jan of 1979 they go their first snow of 20 years. Snow that stuck to the beach right up to the water line, and snow that packed down and became black ice. The schools closed, most business' closed. The two gas stations, and the two grocery stores stayed open. The bank stayed open too.

Evey one else stayed home- it just wasn't safe to drive. Most people live on hills, and the county just didn't sand up side streets.

That snow lasted two weeks, then it warmed up and stayed warm enough for the black ice to thaw, then the rains hit.

The next bout of snow we got was in 1999. that snow lasted three weeks. I was snowed in- 5 miles inland and two steep hills from hwy 101. I also didn't have water for two months, nor did I have electricity- snow brought down the power line. The power company had it's hands full of teen age vandalism for most of that time. Once they caught the stinking brats, they fixed our pole and transformer.

I moved away in 2004 for 6 years so I don't know if there was snow after I left or not.

Why should the county or cities invest in snow plows? When it only snows a couple of measly inches every 10 to 20 to 50 years??? The black ice is the killer here. Our roads are shaded by towering evergreen trees, if the sun can't thaw out the ice, then it is just going to stay frozen until the temps rise and the rain falls. The county road crews do sand the hwy-

You are right, depends on the location- check out the map and see exactly where Waldport OR is. You can't go swimming in our part of the ocean at any time of the year- yet when it does snow, seldom does the snow stick to the beach at the water line!

I for one do not like snow. It is pretty, but it is also such a nuisance. I am going to enjoy this snow fall though. It is much better than the weather and temps I just moved away from - Casa Grande AZ. though the winter temps are nice, after being raised in the Pacific NW- I prefer autumn temps of 35-55 degrees during the day. (You do the research, Grasshopper, and learn some humility & compassion.)

E]

[Dravin]

Why should the county or cities invest in snow plows?

I don't know, why should they? I'm assuming you have an answer since you are asking the question. I certainly didn't say anything about how places with little snowfall (or with little sticking snowfall) should invest in snowplows.

It's a calculated risk, most the time it pays off. Kinda like air conditioning in Fairbanks. Most people lack it, the mad rush to buy fans or what have you when they do have a much hotter than normal year is amusing. Especially looking back at it as what I used to consider a scorcher of a day is now what I consider a pleasant one. My past self would probably poke fun at my current self for no longer being up to the cold temperatures like I used to be as well.

Just as with temperature is also the issue of being practiced at driving on snow. Someone in Alaska will scoff at a greater amount of snow on the road than someone who never drives in it even if we are talking about the same stretch of road and cars. Can't quite think of a reverse analog but I'm sure its out there. Mayhap a hike in the heat?

(You do the research, Grasshopper, and learn some humility & compassion.)

E]

Nope, no researched needed (particularly if what you are sharing is what I was supposed to learn by researching) for some friendly climate based joshing. Humility and compassion I can probably stand to do with more of but not because of the preceding sentence. I would have expected (and received) joshing from quite a few living in Arizona (or Utah or Texas or similar warmer climes) for describing 80 degrees as a scorcher a half dozen years or so ago and I wouldn't have been accusing them of needing to learn humility and compassion. I think you are reading this as a lot more serious than it was intended.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Dravin