Looking for a couple of details about the "gray" winters/spring (Portland: allergy, live)

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Sherwoody

Try a strategically placed fan to blow the heat about the room.

I use my ceiling fan rotating in the opposite direction of the way it revolves to cool the room in the warm weather. It really works spreading the heat and keeping the room dry as well.

[Sherwoody]

Originally Posted by Minervah

I use my ceiling fan rotating in the opposite direction of the way it revolves to cool the room in the warm weather. It really works spreading the heat and keeping the room dry as well.

Yes. Up from the center and down the walls is optimal. For those without a ceiling fan try to get a horizontal flow around the room, but really any constant airflow will help. I hear we may have some much needed moisture in our future. I'm ready for a bit of rain to wash away some of the dust and pollen that troubles my wife so.

[dmiller91]

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I wasn't trying to offend anyone!

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by roneb

Nice sarcasm. But dmiller's observations during their week here were more typical than abnormal. I always love it when people try to compare climates by simple annual rainfall accumulation. Heck, Dallas gets nearly 35" annually. The difference is that in Dallas and Madison (and much of the midwest) you get actual thunderstorms and rain can fall fast and furious. As a result, you have far fewer days of actual rainfall. Here in Portland rain falls in dribs and drabs. It is rare to get more than even a quarter of an inch of rain in a day. As a result we DO have far more wet, gray days over the course of a winter than the vast majority of cities in the U.S. - including most of those that have similar or even higher average annual rainfall totals.

dmiller's observation was that there was a week-long of STEADY rain. Not sure where that aligns with your much more accurate characterization of the rain in Portland. Do you experience nine months during which your shoes never dry out? I don't. As I've said elsewhere often enough, I wear socks & Birkenstocks year-round. And I sure wouldn't do that if they very often got wet.

So how can a week-long of "steady rain" be more accurate?

[dmiller91]

Sorry, I should have said it rained "steadily", as well as spelled FARE correctly.

It rained LIGHTLY, but STEADILY, all week.

In Madison, it rains heavily usually, for nor more than a couple of hours at a time. It isn't the annual AMOUNT of percipitation I was referring to but rather the constant presence of the drizzle that seemed different from here. I know it's like that in Seattle, so yes, I assumed some similarities in Portland (my bad)

You are correct, one cannot judge Portland from being there one week. (although I have visited more than once, never during the summer season). I do believe and will continue to believe, that the weather patterns differ in the PNW compared with other parts of the country. They are well documented.

Moderator cut: personal

But hey, it sounds great there if what I experienced isn't the norm. Maybe I'll move to Portland and proudly wear my socks and Birkenstocks too.

[OuttatheRain]

You have written that you love sunshine. You will not be happy in the Pacific NW.

It's pretty miserable here from October through the end of June. The winter days are short, it's almost pitch black by 5pm during the winter. There are a few "sun breaks", but they can be as short as 10 minutes. It is very possible to go a few weeks without seeing sun at all.

The summers are amazing here, that is the only good thing about the weather. From July 5th (summer always seems to arrive that day, lol) until the middle-end of September. Then it becomes overcast and dreary.

Good luck with your decision!

~from a former AZ native who moved to Oregon in '99 and is relocating with the family to Florida in '13 because we are so tired of not having sun

[mateo384]

I've lived in Portland now for 10 years, and I've had enough of it. It's been a constant downpour for weeks now. Yes, summers here are fantastic, especially if you like swimming in the rivers nearby. You can see some pretty spectacular views just minutes outside the city. Imo, "going to the river" in the summer is the best thing about living here.

However, I am sick and tired of 9 months of clouds and rain. It's pretty miserable and depressing. If you feel more confident and have a higher self-esteem in summertime, then this place will slowly drag your soul down over time. I remember about 3 years ago we barely even got a summer at all. It just continued to be cloudy and rainy the whole time.

If you have allergies, DON'T move here! My allergies have been the worst they've ever been since I lived here. If you're allergic to pollen or mold, you are going to be absolutely miserable here.

Portland also has legalized gambling, so you can gamble at virtually every bar in town. It's basically like living in Vegas. If you like to gamble, you'll never save any money here cuz you'll gamble it all away cuz everything is accessible and close to anywhere you go.

But the summers and culture are awesome. Great mass transit, too.

But I am moving because of allergies, the Oregon lottery, and 9 months of cold, wet and grey skies.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by mateo384

I've lived in Portland now for 10 years, and I've had enough of it. It's been a constant downpour for weeks now.

That sun break in the afternoon yesterday where it was warm enough to take my coat off outside must have been a localized phenomena.

Originally Posted by mateo384

If you have allergies, DON'T move here! My allergies have been the worst they've ever been since I lived here. If you're allergic to pollen or mold, you are going to be absolutely miserable here.

I commiserate with you on that, mine have been the worse they have been in decades.

Originally Posted by mateo384

Portland also has legalized gambling, so you can gamble at virtually every bar in town. It's basically like living in Vegas. If you like to gamble, you'll never save any money here cuz you'll gamble it all away cuz everything is accessible and close to anywhere you go.

Oregon has legalized gambling in the form of the Oregon Lottery, it's not limited to Portland. I'm not sure you've ever lived or even been to Las Vegas, because we're desperately short of 1/4 mile long all you can eat buffets, and several million feet short on neon lights, not to mention there is a conspicuous lack of gaudy multi-million dollar hotels.

While the Oregon Lottery certainly has it's issues and detractors, the state has tangibly benefited from it in ways that would not have been funded otherwise.

Originally Posted by mateo384

But I am moving because of allergies, the Oregon lottery, and 9 months of cold, wet and grey skies.

I am sorry to hear Oregon was not for you, but this is what everyone in these forums say. Oregon is not for everyone, it's not Utopia, and the grass is not greener here. Well, actually it usually is, but only because of the rain.

[danwilsonbsee]

Originally Posted by mateo384

I've lived in Portland now for 10 years, and I've had enough of it. It's been a constant downpour for weeks now. Yes, summers here are fantastic, especially if you like swimming in the rivers nearby. You can see some pretty spectacular views just minutes outside the city. Imo, "going to the river" in the summer is the best thing about living here.

However, I am sick and tired of 9 months of clouds and rain. It's pretty miserable and depressing. If you feel more confident and have a higher self-esteem in summertime, then this place will slowly drag your soul down over time. I remember about 3 years ago we barely even got a summer at all. It just continued to be cloudy and rainy the whole time.

If you have allergies, DON'T move here! My allergies have been the worst they've ever been since I lived here. If you're allergic to pollen or mold, you are going to be absolutely miserable here.

Portland also has legalized gambling, so you can gamble at virtually every bar in town. It's basically like living in Vegas. If you like to gamble, you'll never save any money here cuz you'll gamble it all away cuz everything is accessible and close to anywhere you go.

But the summers and culture are awesome. Great mass transit, too.

But I am moving because of allergies, the Oregon lottery, and 9 months of cold, wet and grey skies.

Huh? I'm sorry but almost every state I've lived in has some form of gambling in the bar (Keno, video poker etc). Portland and Oregon in general is very much unlike Vegas. Not to mention you're in a bar, not a local PTA meeting.

As for the weather discussion, I just don't understand people that move here and then complain about the weather. It would be like moving to Dubai and then complaining about the constant heat. I've lived throughout the majority of the US and many places in Europe/ME for work. Every region of the world has unique challenges. If you ignore them and move there anyway it's on you. It's to be expected when you move to the PNW that it will be rainy and gloomy for much of the year. To move here and then complain about constant downpours is silly to me. Move to Arizona and take your bad attitude with you if you hate rain. Portland is better for you leaving.

[mateo384]

Oh look, it's raining again! Lol

And I'm not saying Portland is LITERALLY like Las Vegas, I'm saying that to someone who has a gambling problem, which i did not have before I moved here, when you go to any bar in town, to a problem-gambler, it's basically like walking into a casino, cuz they'll be staring at you in the face everywhere you go. In the 3 states I've lived in: Florida, California, and Wisconsin, that was simply not possible.

It's all my fault of course, not Oregon's, but by moving I will eliminate that because it simply won't be an option. All it really takes is being drunk in a bar and slipping in a 20 and winning it big to get the bug. I had never even done a scratch-off ticket before I moved here. Now I have to get out of here before it destroys my life. I know I'm not the only one.

It's a much bigger problem than the rain. The rain just justifies the move even more. Portland does have many great things about it, but I can't stay because of this.