Oregon climates

Merrill Jensen merrill@gamblegarden.org
Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:26:26 PDT
The winds that come shrieking down the Gorge in winter can be brutal.  What
happens is cold arctic air builds out in the Columbia basin.  The colder,
denser air follows the terrain and gets funneled down the Columbia River
with tree shredding speed. The east side of Portland can have horrible ice
storms while the rest of the Portland metro area just has rain.  I've driven
into areas that were coated with more than .5" of ice with power lines and
tree limbs down all over.  The rest of the year, the northern Willamette
Valley climate doesn't vary to degree that it does in certain areas of
California, such as the Bay Area.  I live twenty miles north of Palo Alto
and there can be a twenty degree difference on a summer afternoon.

Merrill Jensen, former Oregon resident that is hoping to head back north in
the near future; roasting in Palo Alto where the first Cyclamen hederifolium
started blooming yesterday.


That's partially determined by the Columbia River and Gorge, which brings
Arctic-type temperatures west and somewhat south.  When it's 25 in Tigard
with no snow, it will probably be 10 or below in the areas you mentioned
with a foot or more of snow.
   


I recently visited relatives in Tigard, OR (SW of Portland) and traveled to
the vicinity of Mt Hood, the fruit growing region on the northeast of the
mountain. I know that in CA, the climate/zone/temps and rainfall can vary
dramatically from east to west. My relatives told me that in Tigard, there
is very little snow and temps rarely get lower than 25F. Is this also true
of Gresham, Estacada, and other towns east of Portland?

Dell


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