Portland's Annual Snow Storm

Believe it or not, but it only snows once a year in Portland. But when it does, it really dumps. We get a lot of warm fronts off the Pacific which keeps it between 35-50 and rainy all winter. However, when the conditions are just right, all that rain turns to snow. This year, the snowstorm hit very unexpectedly and everyone got out of work early. Despite that, it still took Emily 4.5 hours to drive 25 miles home from work. Since the snow is rare here, the city is not equipped with snow plows and the locals have no clue how to drive in the slick stuff.

Emily amidst the blizzard on the roof balcony at work

The Christmas tree at Pioneer Square (downtown Portland)

Our house covered in snow. The 4Runner earned its keep....and was a lot of fun playing around in the snow....I guess I get this from my Dad. I remember as a kid, he was always looking for an excuse to take his Chevy Blazer out when the snow hit hard in Ohio. I, ahem, "toured" a few (many) parking lots on my way home that day. :)

Now that it's winter, we have made several trips up to Mt Hood for snowboarding. Unfortunately, the weather has been real fickle up there - some days are great powder, while other days are pouring rain. Here are some pics from the good days:

the wall of snow on the side of the road to Mt Hood shows how much snow they have been getting...with the peak of Mt Hood glistening in the sun

Em taking a break from riding to soak up the sun and the view

the view from atop Meadows Resort - we are high enough to be ABOVE the clouds....it may be gloomy in Portland, but it is sunny up here!!

view of Mt Jefferson peaking through the clouds on the horizon

Just as quickly as the snow came, the snow melted during the normal Portland rain the next day. Our standard 45 degree and rainy weather returned and life in Portland went back to normal. We even got a few 50 degree days, so we did some local hikes on the weekends.

a new tree growing out of a stump

a hike in Forest Park includes seeing some amazing houses perched on the cliffs

We had a clear sunny weekend this weekend so we finally took our inaugural ride on the Aerial Tram in the South Waterfront district. The Tram is part of the public transportation system and connects the South Waterfront district to the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

the view of downtown Portland from the Aerial Tram

We had a slight delay in our excursions around the city because the draw bridge was raising to let a ship pass through:

Today we had another day of nice weather, so we did some short hikes at the nearby Tualatin Hills Nature Center (about a 5 min drive from our house). The trails were a little soggy, but it was still nice to get a nice walk in the woods. We almost stumbled over this little fellow.....then he went hopping on his way....