Outdoors and Rain (floor, winter, heat)

[freedom]

There is not enough rain in So. Oregon, we have not even 2" of rain in the summer. I miss the summer rains. Winter if it is raining then it is warmer, if it is sunny the air temp is cool, usually. The great thing about Oregon is we have weather. So. CA. was pretty much the same all year, (boring)......

Grants Pass avg. 28-38 inches per yr.

The only thing I would prefer we did not have is fog. Some years there is quite a few days, others hardly any. One thing is for sure, it is difficult to predict and it always is changing. The saying in Climate city is wait 10 minutes.

Also there are hundreds of micro climates. Kind of like the island of Kaui. Some areas get 120 + inches and others 10 inches per yr. On a tiny island.

[albinoazian]

The rain doesn't bother me so much as no sun. I keep reading about S.A.D. and people needing light treatment. I grew up in Sacramento and the gray winters were depressing. I read that the suicide rate is high in Portland because of this. Cold is fine, rain is fine, but no sunshine for months is worrisome.

[nanannie]

Soooo very true.I stongly suggest going on line and checking out those special sun lamps. We treat patients with depression with such,the human body NEEDS some sun,and the long stretches in Portland,Astoria, etc really do damage to some people. Not you with the web feet

[StealthRabbit]

another sure sign you've arrived in Portland is when there are numerous auto accidents during a few moments of sunshine due to glare, and shadows (amazing, but it happens, folks aren't used to sunshine) equally amazing is the first few days of rain after our annual 70 day drought, the oils on the road cause slick conditions and more crashes... Insurance rates are pretty high here, it was double what I paid in Colorado, and even more for motorcycles! (which you don't ride real often)

[lilypad]

Yes, there are definitely stories to tell about living in Oregon. We forgot the mud!!

I loved hiking the Gorge trails, once was trying to get down a steep, muddy trail. No need to worry, I just slid down the whole way!

When was that big ice storm where the power was out for two days! We almost started throwing the furniture in the fireplace...1998?

[Daggsinthedesert]

HI. I just wanted to point out that not all of the good outdoor activities are on the Western side of the state. We live on the Eastern side of the state, and we have mountainous areas over here, too. Plenty of places to go hiking, camping, outdoor exploring, etc. Plus, we don't get nearly as much rain. The La Grande area is wonderful. Also, the Heppner area is nice, too. So, check out our side of the state some time. It is far too ignored.

[diggitydot]

I can't remember a single camping trip during the summer as a kid when it didn't rain, at least a little bit. But that isn't really a big deal to most native NW'ers. It kind of comes with the territory of living in the NW.

If you're going to live in the NW you're just going to have to come to terms with the fact that the weather is unpredictable, at best. But the rain isn't always freezing cold nor does it always come down in buckets. You kind of get used to the drizzle or light sprinkles to where it's almost unnoticeable.

We always did lots of outdoor activities. You just do some in the rain. If you're not into doing them in the rain, it will likely limit the time of year when you end up doing them. (You'll probably be limited to mid-July through late-September or early-October, if that's the case.)

[Marko3]

Most everyone seems to think that it rains daily in Oregon. I have lived here most of my life, and while it does rain often, it doesn't typically rain hard very often. Living in Texas for awhile, it would be sunny for months, and then there would be a torrential downpour that would flood everything. Oregon is not like that, we get less amounts of water more often, which is why everything is so green here. Between the months of May through mid September, the rain tapers off quite a bit, and it does get hot. It rarely ever rains in July-August, but if it does, it may rain for an hour or so, and be warm and dry by the afternoon. The thing about Oregon, is that weather moves through fairly fast. The jet stream and the winds off of the Pacific Ocean push weather systems through quickly, so when it's raining in the summer, it doesn't rain for very long typically. The hardest thing for me to deal with is the lack of sunny days in the winter months. It is often overcast, and drizzly for days or weeks at a time, where you may not see the sun for awhile. That doesn't mean it's raining, it's just very mild, damp, and foggy out.
Don't get me wrong, it does rain in Oregon, but it's not the Amazon rainforest like alot of people assume. We have our wet season, our milder season, and a dry season. By the end of one, you're more than ready for the next.
Winters are cold, but not in comparison to places like Montana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan or New York. Summers are hot, but not when compared to Las Vegas or Phoenix. And it's much more comfortable than the high humidity of places like Texas and Louisiana. Summers in Oregon are great, and there's plenty of time to do outdoor things with cooperative weather.

[Pippa]

It rains a lot here in the fall, winter and spring. It's not the getting WET part that bothers people (yes it IS just drizzle a lot of the time) but the grey skies. I bet i have seen no more than 30 sunrises or sunsets since October and this is April 15th.
I find it interesting that you like to hike and camp but dont do that in so cal. I lived in Santa Barbara for a while and lived right in some woods off the beach during April and it was so pleasant. You CAN do those activities all year round and a lot of people like to and then there's a lot of people who stay in and knit.
Also-you're a teacher? Make sure you get a job BEFORE coming!! It is a super tight market. FYI

[nietzschedanced]

Originally Posted by lady_jet

I grew up in East Central WI between Lake Michigan and Lake Winnebago with 20 ft. drops of snow and 75-degrees below zero with the windchill. Now move to Seattle where it rarely snows and you have rain. I happen to love walking in the rain and in the fog. I can do it all year long for the rain part, and in the spring and fall for the fog part. I could camp in the rain and jump into a hot spring. We'd go camping and stay in the tent and talk, play chess, drink and play cards, or whatever. You can get out any time of the year and not worry about glare ice, snow banks, people who cannot drive in the snow (except when it snows in Seattle or Portland and then watch out cuz those 4-wheelers think they can drive on snow going too fast).

You have to put it in perspective. Besides, if you don't want the rain, you can go to Eastern OR or WA and get more sun than you can ask for.

I was born in MN & went to Wisconsin for college. At 60 I left PA for Oregon and never looked back. "Drizzle" was invented to describe OR. People work and play happily in the barely falling rain. You can get rain 5 days in a row and still have thirsty plants. The rainfall is almost daily but it ain't much for quantity.
This year (5th) was a test. We had record rainfall in April, May & June. It never interfered with my comfort or my plans. The hoodie sweatshirt is the Oregon Umbrella.

The payoff? No snow to speak of, no ice, no bone chilling cold (but you dress for the damp here) and Oregon is green all year. In the Willamette Valley new crops get planted even in January & February.
I have heat on in my apartment about one week a year.