Just as we were all getting into the spring swing, Mother Nature went and threw us a fluffy, white — cold — curveball.
Many of us living in and around Portland looked out our bedroom windows on Monday morning to see our neighborhoods coated in snow. Yes, snow … in April. Some areas saw as much as 5 inches of the stuff. Sorry, what?
While the flakes had mostly melted by midday, slick roads + fallen trees caused some trouble for commuters, knocked out power for thousands of households, and prompted school closures. Another weather system was expected to roll through the region last night, possibly dumping more snow in the metro area today.
Such wintry conditions this late in the season are extremely rare here. Measurable snow (more than 0.1 inch) had never been seen in April at Portland International Airport since record-keeping began 82 years ago. Previously, the latest snow at PDX was recorded on March 25, 1965.
A keen-eyed community member pointed out on Twitter that a little over half-an-inch was recorded in May of 1953, but the National Weather Service replied that it was actually hail and not “real” snow.
If all of it leaves you scratching your head and digging out the sweaters you’d just packed away for the year, you aren’t alone. Last Thursday’s brief summer preview has us feeling jilted. Did we just imagine that 77-degree day? Was it the fever dream of Pacific Northwesterners left too long in the cold rain? *Uncontrollable sobbing.*
Alas … those warm days seem a lifetime ago now. And not to rub salt into the wound, but don’t look for them to return anytime soon. Cool showers may be here through at least the rest of the week.
