Tips for Adjusting to Portland Weather (Mission, Oakland: living in, dangerous, moving to) - Oregon (OR) - City-Data Forum

magpie5 · 08-26-2007, 09:14 PM

My husband and I are considering a move from Oakland, CA (SF Bay Area) to Portland, and would love some tips on HOW to make the transition to wetter, grayer weather. I know it's going to be especially hard for my husband - what with the shorter days in the winter and all, but am wondering, if we go ahead with the move, if there is any way to help ease the difficulty.

Thanks so much for any tips.

suncat · 08-26-2007, 09:42 PM

Welcome Magpie! I've tried to deal with the winters here, but I'm giving up and plan to move someplace sunnier. Portland is a beautiful city, but it's hard for lots of folks to have clouds and damp cold hang on for months at a time. Some winters are okay, though; sunnier ones tend to correlate with the presence of El Nino, where the jetstream tracks into California, leaving Oregon under a ridge of high pressure.

I try to get as much light as I can, pathetic as those attempts may be. I have a sunroof in my car. Even on grey days, you get more light in your eyes if you have the opaque part open. I try to take short trips to sunnier places in Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb, if I can. Those four months are soooo dark. Getting up earlier and getting outside in the morning helps.

This is going to sound so dorky, but savor the sunbreaks. They do happen.

oldtintype · 08-26-2007, 11:19 PM

Get a sun lamp, take vitamin D and exercise. Don't sit around--stay active. Get a dog! I swear--getting out everyday for a romp with the dog rain or shine makes a difference.

Triana · 08-26-2007, 11:33 PM

I agree with oldtintype. The sunlamp, the vitamin D, the exercise. I lived in the middle of Maine for many years where the dark and cold and snow seemed to last forever. It was actually intolerable, and getting out for exercise was nigh impossible in January and February. Portland seems like it will be a breeze compared to Maine and Northeast PA (where I've been for the past 3 years). But you're coming from CA, so that's a different story entirely.

I guess it all depends on one's inherent proclivity to seasonal affective issues and the kind of weather one is used to.

I'll take gray rainy days over cold snowy ones any day. You don't have to shovel the rain.

GucciLittlePiggie · 08-27-2007, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triana

I agree with oldtintype. The sunlamp, the vitamin D, the exercise. I lived in the middle of Maine for many years where the dark and cold and snow seemed to last forever. It was actually intolerable, and getting out for exercise was nigh impossible in January and February. Portland seems like it will be a breeze compared to Maine and Northeast PA (where I've been for the past 3 years). But you're coming from CA, so that's a different story entirely.

I guess it all depends on one's inherent proclivity to seasonal affective issues and the kind of weather one is used to.

I'll take gray rainy days over cold snowy ones any day. You don't have to shovel the rain.

coming from upstate NY and MA, i have to agree. 4 months of grey skies and rain seem like a blessing...

magpie5 · 08-27-2007, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suncat

Welcome Magpie! I've tried to deal with the winters here, but I'm giving up and plan to move someplace sunnier. Portland is a beautiful city, but it's hard for lots of folks to have clouds and damp cold hang on for months at a time.

Thanks so much for your tips - would you mind telling me where you're originally from, how long you've lasted in Portland, and where you're moving to? This is a big question for us, so I'm really interested in your decision to leave - is it soley weather motivated?

lilypad · 08-27-2007, 01:06 PM

I survived Portland weather for 7 years, but only because I had family and friends there. It was very hard for me to deal with the daily drizzle report. I used to get up early on weekends and drive hours over to eastern Oregon in hopes of finding some sun. If the weather was bearable, would probably still be there as Portland a very livable city and Oregon a beautiful state.

nancy thereader · 08-27-2007, 01:30 PM

I didn't think that Portland 's weather was all that different from San Francisco . A lot different from New York or Chicago, but not northern California. Is it ?

oldtintype · 08-27-2007, 03:43 PM

It's darker (mainly because the days are shorter in the winter--dark by 4:30 for two months). It's actually WARMER a great deal of the time because the wind in SF is just freezing, but SF has a lot more sun in terms of brightness and being closer to the equator. SF doesn't get the longer daylight in the summer though where it's not fully dark until 10pm and that kind of thing (which makes up for the shorter winter days). The SF cold is also damp though and when the fog rolls in and the wind picks up...it can be REALLY cold even in the summer. Also depends on where you live--my experience in the Mission District was very different than living in Alamo Square for example. In SF people ***** about the summer, here it's about the winter. I don't find it that different really--it's colder here in the winter (and WARMER during the summer!) and darker Nov-Feb but...it's not a massive difference. I also don't suffer from SAD though. I also don't sleep until 10 or 11AM and then complain because it's dark at 4:30

nancy thereader · 08-27-2007, 04:14 PM

well, it gets dark at 4:45 in New York during winter so I am used to that. It is the snow & below freezing temps in NY that I find so difficult to deal with.
Snow often turns to dirty slushy ice and then refreezes (with the dirt) making for an ugly and dangerous mess.
I don't sleep until ten or eleven either, so early darkness will not bother me all that much. I like the idea of sitting by a fire with a good book while the rain beats down on the roof.

At least I say that now.....