Your Experiences with Winters in Eugene (Portland, Dallas: to buy, school, live)

[meowlly]

Hi there,

I am happy to say that because I got into grad school in several different great places, I am currently braving through my last Indiana winter. I could be back, but probably not.

I have found out a lot about the winters in the other places I might go for grad school, but I'm having trouble getting a good picture of what winters are like in Eugene, Oregon, mostly because they sound so different from what I'm used to. I understand that it's drizzly and dreary until June? Is it a bitter cold or more mild? It sounds to me like if it's rain and not (usually) snow or ice it can't be that cold. Is that true?

I've looked at all the numbers and figures but they don't paint a very vivid picture. I'd like to know your human experiences of winters in Eugene.

[Sherwoody]

I've never spent much time in Eugene so can't help with a human experience, but I thought I'd pass this weather comparison site to keep you busy until others chime in.

City Climate Comparisons

[bler144]

Originally Posted by meowlly

I've looked at all the numbers and figures but they don't paint a very vivid picture. I'd like to know your human experiences of winters in Eugene.

I'm curious what kind of winter you're used to. Eugene historically is dry from roughly May-Sept, with a mix of sun and partly cloudy weather. Quite pleasant for the most part, though more and more with a few weeks of significant heat (and mild to moderate humidity) in July/Aug.

Fall is usually quite pleasant - few rains, but mostly quite mild through Oct and usually into Nov. Late Nov/Dec are typically cooler, with a mix of light rain, clouds, and sunny days. It could be 60 and sunny or 50 and gray on any given day.

Moving into Jan the gray sets in for real, and gray and/or drizzly is pretty typical through March with April being cool and mixed. But in any given year winter sun breaks are quite possible. Freezing temps or snowfall are possible but pretty rare. If I had to guess an average it's probably 2-3" every other year. This year in particular I'd say we've had a lot of sun in Jan both in the valley and in Portland.

Personally I quite like it - with just a little bit of rain gear it's easy to be out and about all winter long biking/hiking/walking/etc. And if you want snow it's only about 70 miles to Willamette Pass for skiing (downhill or xc)/snowboarding/snowshoeing, etc.

[meowlly]

Originally Posted by bler144

Personally I quite like it - with just a little bit of rain gear it's easy to be out and about all winter long biking/hiking/walking/etc.

That sounds great to me, too! Thanks so much for your detailed account of Oregon winters.

[Metlakatla]

Unfortunately, snow at Willamette Pass isn't really a given anymore. I think it's only been open for one weekend, and it doesn't look good for the rest of the season.

There's a lot of fog on the valley floor; I kind of liked it when I lived there.

[northwesty]

We have had less rain and more persistent fog in the valley in the last few years in the winter. As I get older the low, gray fog gets to me much more than the rain. The good news is you can drive 10 miles east or west and be in bright sunshine. The bad news is that we are WAY behind in the snowpack in the Cascades. Could be bad news this summer.

[Stella Dallas000]

absolutely true; the many many months of overcast weather, with no light and no sun, can be very depressing. I had to buy one of those "lights – substitute – for –sunlight" and I use that constantly and I also have to take a lot of vitamin D with fish oil. There is a lot of vitamin D deficiency here, because there's no sunlight. Unfortunately, now we also have a drought, which means we don't have any water either.not a good combination!

[Sizzle-Chest]

Originally Posted by Stella Dallas000

Unfortunately, now we also have a drought, which means we don't have any water either.not a good combination!

Well, just to clarify, we're above average for annual precipitation here in Eugene, but low snowpack in the mountains.

Winters are a mixed bag. The last two winters are a perfect example with lots of snow/ice and freezing temps last year and then record breaking warmth this year. Though, generally speaking, winters are pretty mild and tolerable.