Gloomy season pics - photos ONLY (Portland: commute, best, building)
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Yes, that isn't even remotely representative of usual winter rain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
And if it's supposed to be the norm, why is it that the total inches of rainfall in Oregon isn't higher?
I never said that the videos represented the norm.
I agree, they certainly do not represent Portland's average daily rainfall.
I tried to point this out in my original post, but apparently I wasn't clear enough, so let me state it again:
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunscribble
I should point out that it doesn't rain this hard every day; however, it's not uncommon to have 20 days in a row overcast like this, just with lighter rain most of the time.
The OP's request was this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pfhtex
Hey how about some pics of the dreaded gloomy season? We have a ton of beautiful Spring and Summer photos, but can people please post what some call the "bad side" of living here?
Those videos fall within that category. As the videos show, "extreme rain" occurs in Oregon on occasion. I have seen it at least a few times every year. It's no big deal, really. As far as rain goes, this is the worst of what you will see. Now if someone would post a video of a light misty rain, we would have the whole spectrum.
Last edited by sunscribble; 01-30-2011 at 10:27 PM..
I found a great resource for Precipitation Data (National Weather Service - NWS Portland). The site shows that the guy in the video was wrong when he said that downpours are usually 2 inches per hour, as that would exceed the Record Rainfall in an Hour. And I agree with Or3g0n and PNW-type-gal, there is no way that this type of downpour would last 24 hours a day for three weeks straight in Oregon. Check the records for yourself to see what is feasible though.
As Or3g0n, PNW-type-gal, and others have indicated, rain is not really the biggest issue for newcomers. The overcast skies have the biggest effect. Even I was surprised to see just how many of our hours are overcast here in Portland. In January, >90% of the sky was covered with clouds 68% of the time (all hours). The average number of overcast days for January was 24, and the average number of partly cloudy days for January was 4:
Hey how about some pics of the dreaded gloomy season? We have a ton of beautiful Spring and Summer photos, but can people please post what some call the "bad side" of living here?
Here is another video of driving in the Portland rain. This time the rain is a more moderate rain (not hitting the windshield too heavy or flooding the streets).
The pics I've been posting have been when there is a lot of overcast. I have a lot of partly cloudy ones from lately, but trying to keep on topic.. I just take a lot of pics
but the videos do a good job of showing Portland weather.
I don't agree that our weather is usually like that. The second video was way off for typical Portland weather.
I agree with In January, 68% of the time >90% of the sky was covered with clouds. It's hard because people who are SAD say it's all clouds all the time in the middle of the winter(they'll even go so far as to say 9 months out of the year or something). Where to the people who aren't SAD and are getting out say "it's not!". 68% of the time in January sounds right to me and I believe the poster had some stats to draw from. I think the most important thing is to get outside, especially in the winter. Pick up skiing or something. Don't be the one saying "I won't go skiing when it's snowing...(ahem)" or "I won't go hiking, fishing, **** when it's overcast".
I don't agree that our weather is usually like that.
Ryant, it is clear that we agree that downpours are not the norm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunscribble
I never said that the videos represented the norm.
I agree, they certainly do not represent Portland's average daily rainfall.
I tried to point this out in my original post, but apparently I wasn't clear enough, so let me state it again.
When I said that the videos do a good job of showing Portland weather (a poor choice of words on my part),
I did not mean to imply that the videos represent the norm.
What I meant was that the videos do a good job of showing one day of Portland weather, at one moment in time - nothing more, nothing less. I think they are good for out-of-towners to see because they take you out in the heavy rain a little bit and let you drive around in it. You get to walk in it too, and get your feet wet. You get to hear what it sounds like when a car drives by on a wet road, and you get to see what the Portland overcast skies look like, along with a break in the clouds. Again, that post was not meant to be an annual summary. The OP asked us to show the "bad sides" of the gloomy season. Occasional heavy rain is one of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryant
The pics I've been posting have been when there is a lot of overcast. I have a lot of partly cloudy ones from lately, but trying to keep on topic.. I just take a lot of pics
I think your pics are great. The more, the better! I think it is silly to try to limit this thread to what an "average day" should look like. All we can do is provide real pics of actual moments in time, and each will be unique. Now that people have the stats to look at, they can see for themselves that the overcast pics are more representative of the norm. That doesn't mean they won't want to see the partly cloudy pics (or the heavy rain videos) too. I am in full support of showing the whole spectrum of "gloomy" weather.
Last edited by sunscribble; 01-31-2011 at 04:01 AM..
I never said that the videos represented the norm.
I agree, they certainly do not represent Portland's average daily rainfall.
I tried to point this out in my original post, but apparently I wasn't clear enough, so let me state it again:
Originally Posted by sunscribble View Post
I should point out that it doesn't rain this hard every day; however, it's not uncommon to have 20 days in a row overcast like this, just with lighter rain most of the time.
But to say "it doesn't rain that hard every day" makes it sound like it does more often, though, than not. And it just doesn't.
But to the subject of the thread ... I really fail to see how anyone can term all these gorgeous photographs as "gloomy" just because the sky is cloudy.
Agreed, light rain is much more frequent than heavy rain. My apologies if I wasn't clear enough about that.
You are missing the whole point of my last post though. It's silly to try to limit this thread to what an "average day" should look like. There is no such thing as a photographic average. All we can do is provide real pics of actual moments in time, each of which will be unique. The OP asked us to show the "bad sides" of the "gloomy season". Occasional heavy rain is one of them, in my book.
Am I the only person who sees the benefit of providing the whole spectrum of "gloomy" weather for prospective residents to see?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV
But to the subject of the thread ... I really fail to see how anyone can term all these gorgeous photographs as "gloomy" just because the sky is cloudy.
I noticed that most people in this thread have avoided labeling their photos as gloomy. They instead refer to them as overcast or cloudy. A few others have used quotation marks ("gloomy") to indicate a neutral stance or even irony. Each person will have their own perception of whether a pic is gloomy or not. Using the quotation marks is a good way to get around that, and thank goodness, as arguing about something so subjective would be futile.
Also, I think it's important to note that the OP didn't ask for "gloomy pics". He asked for pics of the "gloomy season". I think we all know that he didn't mean summer. The overcast season to which he was referring typically includes fall, winter, and spring months, and that is why people are providing pics taken during those months. Beautiful or not, these pics were taken during the season to which the OP was referring, and I think they do speak to what he was looking for in that sense.
You have a good point though in the sense that these photos don't really show "the bad side of living here." They mostly show nature in all of its splendor. We could definitely get gloomier. Come on people, try harder! (I'm just kidding, I think all your photos are great so far - I hope to encourage as many photos as possible ). It wouldn't hurt to have some more industrial pics as well.
The average number of cloudy, partly cloudy, and clear days in Portland is given below.
(National Weather Service: Days Cloudy/Partly Cloudy/Clear)
Cloudy Skies (clouds cover 80-100% of sky)
24 cloudy days in January
22 cloudy days in February
23 cloudy days in March
21 cloudy days in April
19 cloudy days in May
16 cloudy days in June
11 cloudy days in July
10 cloudy days in August
11 cloudy days in September
17 cloudy days in October 24 cloudy days in November
23 cloudy days in December
-------------------------------
227 total cloudy days per year
Partly Cloudy Skies (clouds cover 40-70% of sky)
4 partly cloudy days in January
4 partly cloudy days in February
5 partly cloudy days in March
6 partly cloudy days in April
7 partly cloudy days in May
8 partly cloudy days in June
8 partly cloudy days in July
9 partly cloudy days in August
8 partly cloudy days in September
8 partly cloudy days in October
4 partly cloudy days in November
5 partly cloudy days in December
------------------------------------
71 total partly cloudy days per year
Clear Skies (clouds cover 0-30% of sky)
3 clear days in January
2 clear days in February
3 clear days in March
3 clear days in April
5 clear days in May
6 clear days in June
12 clear days in July
12 clear days in August
11 clear days in September
6 clear days in October
2 clear days in November
3 clear days in December
--------------------------------
67 total clear days per year
Here is a quick video that shows one of the 24 cloudy days that typically would occur in November:
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