So much for the big excitement of 'we're going to get upwards of 9 inches of snow [big whoop] on Tuesday and Wednesday!' Theres basically no snow to speak of up here in the West Hills. Only a very light dusting and a coating of ice.
Heck, 9 inches is nothing close to what Portland used to get back in the 1800s and early 1900s. The Portland Tribune wrote an article on this on January 6th. Boy, it really just doesn't snow like it used to. <---This picture to the left is back from 1930 when the Columbia River froze up so solidly that cars could actually drive on it. The bridge in the background is what we now know as the I-5 bridge.
Big difference, huh?
Let's do a comparison. In the 1870s the average snowfall was 20 inches. In 1871-72 the snowfall totaled 50 inches that was later followed by 30 inches the next winter. The following winter after that, 36 inches was the total.
Much more than we get now.
How about more?
The winter of 1892-93 almost 61 inches of snow fell. Whew! Who knew it could snow so much in Portland? Even through the 1950s and ’60s, significant snowfall was common in Portland: 24 inches in 1955-56, 20 inches in 1959-60, 13 inches in 1964-65 and 26 inches in 1968-69.
Alright, now let us compare that to the past decade of snowfall in Portland.
In the past 10 years, Portland has averaged a measly 2 inches of snow. That accounts for the snow fest we had in December '08 where we got a decent amount of snow (14 inches, i think?). Ignoring that winter snowfall, the average snowfall drops even more; down to a pathetic 1.5 inches.
And everyone who lives in Portland knows that most of these winters we've not even seen any snow many winters (minus the quick little flurries that lay down less than .5 of an inch).
This graph makes this very clear:
Sorry it's blurry, but the fall in snow amounts is very clear.
It just doesn't snow here like it used to, but " it only takes one-half an inch for people to not know how to drive on it.” And that is so true.
I'll leave you with this video from January '07 when we got 3 or 4 inches of snow taken along SW Salmon near the MAC between 20th and 21st:
We should be so proud! Portland drivers know how to crash into each other!
