accurate weather please!! (Portland: living, bus, garden)

[Deezus]

The thing about the weather in the Pacific Northwest is that if you schedule an outdoor activity on a very specific day ahead of time and are hoping that there won't be rain or cloudy skies--there's a good chance you'll be out of luck when that day arrives--except for July 4th to mid-September when it's almost always dry and warm. This really goes for the whole region, although there's better odds of sunny skies as you go east of the Cascades(but even Bend gets a fair amount of cloudy days). Which is why people schedule every damn outdoor summer wedding often in a small window from late July through the end of August. Which is why we are jam packed with outdoor festivals and people throwing BBQ parties in the summer months into the middle of fall.

However if you're open to making plans at the last minute for when the sun comes out during the year--you can get a good number of days out in the sun. And sometimes the weather is better at one spot while it's cloudy and rainy in another--I've gone skiing or snowshoeing at Hood many times where you're above the clouds and in the sun, while it's wet and grey down below... I've had 65 degree days and sunny in January at the coast(and was lucky enough that they coincided with a day off) where the weather was better at the ocean than in Portland. I've got tons of photos from fifteen years of trips around the Northwest and looking back I've got sun in a lot of them. It's just that you have to be flexible if you really want to catch the sun for much of the year.

You get used to the weather systems here, but just as almost anywhere on the Pacific Coast--you can get a mixed bag almost anytime of the year. When people plan a big camping trip months in advance for June however--and then are disappointed when it rains--well...it's just a risk you take out here. And when going to the coast you basically just assume it's going to be grey almost any point of the year and when it's not it's a happy surprise when you get a beautiful clear day.

Or you can just go outside when it's grey and cloudy and not worry about the sun--the weather is fairly mild for most of the year--so you can still go hiking or fishing in the non-summer months just fine unless it's really stormy downpour or the rare very cold temps... I actually like hiking in the Columbia Gorge or Forest Park in the rain. But if you're the type that just wants to sit around in your backyard and catch some rays--you're probably going to be find the Northwest not to your liking.

[Steve Pickering]

I do what I do rain or shine, so weather does not play a part in my life.

[gosling357]

Do workplaces/schools ever close for ice and such? That is one thing I will miss...snow days! (Not that grown ups get as many of those as the kids, here...but every so often it will really pile up and everybody has to sit around and drink hot chocolate and wait for the plows. )

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by gosling357

Do workplaces/schools ever close for ice and such? That is one thing I will miss...snow days! (Not that grown ups get as many of those as the kids, here...but every so often it will really pile up and everybody has to sit around and drink hot chocolate and wait for the plows. )

Schools seem to close more often than workplaces will. School districts will often close at the threat of snow--and then it doesn't snow much. I've rarely got any snow days from work--and that's usually the rare really big storms every few years or so(I can remember the big ones in the last decade vividly)...

But logistically school districts with student bodies coming from a topographically varired area don't want to be responsible about getting buses stuck where it might snow a little more... Sometimes it can snow a few inches in the West Hills or higher up in the foothills and not in Portland to any degree. Snow on the valley floor is rarer.

[gosling357]

Yeah that sounds about right. Oh well, I can sacrifice snow (and shoveling) for all the wonderful benefits

[Steve Pickering]

Now if you can just get rid of the accent, nobody will make fun of you.

[SETabor]

We'd have to have internet access go down to get a true snow day now. I've had a couple of effective snow days where I either didn't go in or went in after noon due to ice during the commute. But, I still logged on and got work done...

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Now if you can just get rid of the accent, nobody will make fun of you.

LOL! When I first moved to Portland a long time ago, I had people asking me what part of New York did I come from. I told them the Chicago part because I actually came from Chicago, not New York. People at that time weren't used to Chicago accents and actors on TV didn't help because many of them portrayed Chicagoans with New York accents for some reason. Not so much anymore though. Thank you John Goodman.

Nowadays, people tell me I no longer have an accent except when I get pi$$ed off. Although I do not have that native Oregonian twang.

Regarding the Portland weather, I agree with those who say it's the overcast skies and not the rain that is what dominates the Portland skies. Clouds don't stop anyone from doing what they need to do but they can cause SAD which is a very serious medical problem that requires the proper treatement. If someone craves sun for the majority of the time, this might not be the place for them.

[gosling357]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Now if you can just get rid of the accent, nobody will make fun of you.

Do people from Delaware have an accent? Post a Youtube video of a person with a Delaware accent.

[Sondeera]

Everyone has an accent if they're away from their home.

https://www.google.com/search?site=&...hp.WtLvPQKVwHc