Corvallis Weather/Storms (Portland, Eugene, Salem: 2014, how much, schools)

[Kitty4]

Wanted to ask about the weather in Corvallis. I've read the online profile information on several sites, and they said that Corvallis gets about 5-6 inches of snow a year. But I've watched 3 online videos on youtube where residents were reporting receiving 6-8 inches of snow in one night and being snowed in for 5 days. That the roads weren't being plowed; that trash wasn't being picked up; they couldn't move their cars out of the driveways, etc. And this was 2008, 2012 or 2013 and 2014. I'd like to know how much it actually snows there.

Also if it is routine to have thunder and lightning storms that shake the windows and have 50+ lightning strikes, as I read was reported in a storm there this weekend (July 13, 2014). Any information anyone would like to provide about the weather there, I would greatly appreciate. Thank you.

Also, if you think Corvallis is a high allergy place where people seem to be on allergy medications to get by.

[PNW-type-gal]

While I can't comment on Corvallis directly, I can comment on weather averages - that is exactly what there are, an average over a long period of time. Which means that some years will have much more snow or rain and some years will have less. That any one year (or set of years) were outside the average just means that the particular storm in question was far outside the average.

We were in Portland this last February, where the average winter snow is just a scant couple inches, and we got almost 2 feet in the week we were there. Rather than look at that one event and say "wow, the averages are wrong," you have to say instead "wow, what a storm!"

Lightning storms are fairly rare in all of Oregon (the most common place for them is in the mountains).

ETA: here is a link to a site with more than 100 years of climate data for Corvallis - click on the various items on the left menu to get specific info on snow, etc

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?or1862

[Kitty4]

Thank you so much for the link PNW! I will check it out!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by Kitty4

......... they couldn't move their cars out of the driveways,.....

That would be the epitome of lazy, to not take a snow shovel and move a little snow out from behind the car.

if you live where it snows, you have the choice to shovel or sit where you are until it thaws. A little snow never stops an Oregonian.

[Metlakatla]

It doesn't snow that much in Corvallis. Those who couldn't get their cars out of the driveway didn't own snow shovels because there's not normally any real need for them. I don't own one myself because it's better to stay off the roads when it snows here -- most Western Oregon drivers don't know how to drive on ice and snow, and many of them think that they're invincible in their little all-wheel drive Subarus. Garbage wasn't been picked up because the garbage trucks didn't have the proper tire accessories to navigate snow and ice. Every few years it gets a few inches of snow and things close things down; that's typical for towns/cities that don't normally get much snow. Most Western Oregon towns slow down significantly any time it snows more than a couple of inches -- business and schools close when it snows. . Naturally it was all put on youtube simply because it's not routine.

I grew up near Corvallis and only saw snow once every couple of years or so, if that. Some lightening and thunder storms, but they aren't the norm.

[Steve Pickering]

I will say we have had more snow the last couple of years, but that is just what nature does. It's variable.

[dperry9]

No, snow is not a serious concern in Corvallis. Snow has caused some problems off and on in Portland but that is because the freeways iced over.

Thunderstorms are pretty rare. Intense ones are not frequent enough that it should alarm anyone.

The entire Willamette Valley, which includes Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene, is full of grasses that cause some people serious hay fever (my father suffered badly with it). If you have hay fever issues, that would be something serious to consider unless you have affective medication.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I grew up near Corvallis and only saw snow once every couple of years or so, if that. Some lightening and thunder storms, but they aren't the norm.

I also grew up near Corvallis. There's a lot of rain many months of the year, but very little snow. Often, the temperature even when it does snow is right about where the rain simply washes away the snow.

I actually found freezing rain to be far more common than real, stick-to-the-ground snow (and far more dangerous).

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTransplant

I also grew up near Corvallis. There's a lot of rain many months of the year, but very little snow. Often, the temperature even when it does snow is right about where the rain simply washes away the snow.

I actually found freezing rain to be far more common than real, stick-to-the-ground snow (and far more dangerous).

It's been awhile since you were here. Snow has been more frequent and more of it, and it seems to stay longer.

[Kitty4]

Do you think the increase in snow frequency and length is part of the overall weather shift of the country? Do you see other patterns of weather change?