Northwest Weather Morons, Part 2

KING 5 News ^ | 1/16/07 | 60Gunner

[radiohead]

and ideologically to the left) of Seattle.

I just left Seattle after 5 years. Other than SF, I didn't think it was possible to be to the left of Seattle! : )

[Clinging Bitterly]

There wasn't much snow. The problem was the freezing rain underneath. This was in Portland but we had the freezing rain over most of Western Oregon today - though I have seen worse.

On a sheet of ice on even a slight grade like that one, once you allow gravity to overcome your traction it is very difficult to get it back. There is a place that used to be on my daily commute that is a banked curve where cars would often slide to the lower curb if they were going too slow.

That said, this video is too funny. Going uncontrolled from one pileup halfway around the block and into another pileup is something I haven't seen before. It looks like they might have been trying to escape sliding to the bottom of the hill, hence the semi controlled powering onto the side street.

This sort of reminds me of a video, also from Portland, from a few years ago where a vehicle was driving downhill on a residential street trying to escape a mudslide. It has been on several TV shows and can probably be found on Youtube.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Good point!

[Skywalk]

Not too bad around NOrthgate or even U-District. I was fine today, other than going to Oak Tree plaza.

Seattle drivers blow and blow hard.

[eeman]

I share your sentiments that at lease parts of the west coast need to slide into the Pacific in order to save the rest of the Republic. However, I lived in Portland for about 10 years and these ice storms are something you have to see firsthand to appreciate them.

Portland is situated at the western end of the Columbia River Valley. Cold air from Canada flows down the valley and meets the moist air from the Pacific ocean over Portland, and EVERYTHING is drenched with ice. The carnage from these ice storms is amazing-- power poles and trees shatter into little pieces without an obvious destructive force, such as a windstorm. There will be abandoned cars everywhere that skidded off the road as if their drivers just suddenly disappeared like in some apocalyptic science fiction movie.

However, the suburbs west of Portland (Beaverton-- the most conservative area of greater Portland), are mostly protected from the worst of the ice storms by a group of hills that separate the main city of Portland from the western suburbs.

[miliantnutcase]

Yeah, dude we finally had some real snow and MN-DOT is out salting/sanding roads and intersentions before and during the snowfalls. What I just saw in that video was SAD.
Here in MN the we have an army of plow guys who sit around itching to get out there like a squad of mercs without a war to fight.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The typical freezing rain event in Portland, Oregon, every January, creates the most treacherous driving conditions I have ever seen. I lived in that area for a number of years and I learned to drive during winter in Anchorage, Alaska.

The area has a unique set of weather conditions that make freezing rain common. The warmer upper air pushing in from the Oregon coast brings rain while the Columbia River Gorge funnels much colder air from the East. The lower air is freezing as the rain overrides it. The rain falls into much colder conditions, freezing instantly.

It is not like a typical snow-covered street in Michigan or elsewhere.

It is the equivalent of trying to drive on a hockey rink with ice sometimes more than half an inch thick.

You can easily fall on your butt, just trying to step out of a vehicle, even though you know the slickness of the surface.

The simple fact is nobody should get near a vehicle in Portland after a freezing rain.

[KZele]

In this video there is nor was an ice storm --just snow, and only 2-3 inches if that. I live here (Beaverton) and work IN Portland Downtown. This was just assinine, plain and simple.
Born in Minnesota, and have lived in Kansas, Flaggstaff, AZ, Denver, Sun Valley, ID and others )Talk about snow nad ice!!!), I have driven in and seen much, much worse.

The video was shot in Portland, not Seattle --and no ice.

KZ