The storms that were forecast last week looked like Snobliteration! headlines would be appropriate. It didn't quite get to that, but it was pretty extreme - and we (barely) set a new accumulation record. Feet of snow and/or temperatures in the low teens seemed to be in the cards - but even as the storm knocked on our door the models were not in full agreement. The cold air was flooding through the gorge and a storm from the SW was plenty wet, but which would reach our area first, and would the southerly storm winds win the day?
It all began early on 2/11 with a trace on the ground when we woke, maybe a flake or two above 1/4 inch. By day's end we were a bit over three inches on the ground.. but at 35° nearly all day a lot of potential was wasted. This was not expected to be the Big Day, but it was a start. So for this day the SW nature of the storm was winning out at our place.
Awakening on the 12th we found 6½" on our measuring-stick on the deck, which being porous held more snow than most other areas. By day's end we had finally reached freezing, and small but persistent flakes brought us to just under a foot of snow. Winds were light and consistently from the east, so the snowdrift against our measuring-stick made the measurement challenging!
Saturday the 13th again found a decent amount of overnight snow, and we had 14½" on the ground, which matched our deepest record here on the hill-top. More flakes added up to 15" on the deck - and since previous measurements came from there, it was a new record. Our driveway stood at 13 inches and no drifts. The Fiat was a complete snow lump with only the mirrors showing (the radio antenna was lost the previous day). This was in fact the Big Day, with changeover to ..something else expected on Sunday. The Willamette Valley was already shifting to ice as the gorge winds weakened, and it was bad - 3/4 inch and more was wrecking trees and power lines. Portland was a mixed bag but the change was coming soon.
Sunday we awoke to just under 15½ inches on the deck (I wrote down 15.3"). Epectations was for another 1-2 inches, but we turned out to be in a dry slot as moisture chose to damage Oregon instead. We had drizzle, which was not falling hard enough to pull down cooler air from above; by day's end we were back to 13" and reached 40° for a bit. Ice continued south of us, but the event was ending here. The forecast for icing was again overstated, as we've never had freezing rain here. The drizzle did freeze on the snow and we got a few 8-inch icicles, but no clear coatings on any surfaces.
I'm writing this up on Thu 2/18, and we still have about 5 inches on the ground. I got the Fiat down the hill but it hasn't made it back up the driveway yet. I just scraped more snow out of the way, so I expect it will be up here again this evening. Update: WRONG
Photos coming, inevitably!
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