Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

isitsnowinginpdx.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 126 posts

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#31

Post by qbasic_forever »

steelstraw wrote: post #24
qbasic_forever wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in the midwest and moved to the PNW as an adult, the PNW does not manage snowfall in populated areas. This is not a fault of the people but rather the infrastructure--there just aren't enough plows, de-icing agents, etc. In Ohio for example when winter storm warnings occur there will be armies of plow drivers mobilized and removing snow almost the minute it hits. They realize the sooner you can get it…

But is it worth having such infrastructure in the PNW? How often would it be used compared to Ohio?

It's not--I agree and think the PNW manages snow just fine on the whole. It's why these comments trying to blame the drivers are so silly.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#32

Post by rootusrootus »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #8
jhatax wrote: post #4

While it might not be super accurate, this simple site captures the way people panic in the PNW when it snows. It’s not uncommon to see cars abandoned on the side of roads (SR-520 in Washington, for example). Thanks for making me smile this morning.

Around Thanksgiving, I drove through Portland on my way up to Washington and then back to Cali. Even with the roads dry and snow-free, traffic was a frickin' nightmare. Even so, Portlanders should feel good that traffic there is still better than driving through Seattle.

About fifty years ago, when building out new freeways was a thing, Portland revolted and stopped building new roads. We haven't built anything meaningful since completing I205 in the 80s. But the city continues to grow. Traffic sucks because the local government has bet the future on light rail.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#33

Post by djrogers »

isoskeles wrote: post #21
geocrasher wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely random question: Are you from California? The reason I ask is that you said "The 5". Edit: To those who said that's a SoCal thing: I Know. I got razzed endlessly when I moved to Reno from the Palm Springs area for saying "The 395, The 80", which are the only two freeways in the region lol.

I lived in Florida for a long time, and the only people I remember who didn’t say “The 95” etc. were news anchors. So I always take these discussions with a grain of salt, as I do not think CA is the only place where people talk like this, and I also don’t even believe there are any regional norms about it most of the time. I assume people just repeat something they read in an article about this phenomenon. But I wou…

No need for research, anyone who moved from Southern California to Northern California can tell you about this very distinct difference in speech patterns.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#34

Post by mwattsun »

bcherny wrote: post #6

I’m currently in Ashland, and was planning to drive up to Portland today. With strong snow all along the 5 [1], I’m thinking it’s better to bunker down for a few days before doing the trip. It’s normally a 4.5 hour drive, but with snow chains and delays I could see it being closer to 10. [1] https://www.tripcheck.com/DynamicReports/Report/RoadConditio...

Once you get over the Smith Hill Summit north of Grants Pass you're probably ok, but that can be tough in bad weather

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#35

Post by bcherny »

geocrasher wrote: post #26
bcherny wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup! California, lived in both NorCal and SoCal.

Your language gives you away lol. But as I edited my comment, it gave me away too. "The $freewaynumber" is almost exclusively as SoCal thing.

Interesting.. Could make for a cool Chrome extension, to analyze text on a page and show tooltips about the person that wrote it (I bet you can infer more than just where they're from!)

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#36

Post by rootusrootus »

ryantgtg wrote: post #18
thsbrown wrote: post #16

There should be a similar isitraininginla.com From the sounds of it Portland is to snow as L.A. is to rain. Any sign of the slightest of moisture in the air and Angelenos lose their shit and drive like dummies.

I have lived in both cities. This is accurate. In LA, I think the issue is that people drive the exact same in the rain. There are no adjustments made to speed or space for braking.

It makes sense. The first rain after an extended dry spell can be treacherous until the oils are washed off the pavement. Once it starts raining consistently in the winter, the roads go back to normal because modern tires have great traction on wet pavement.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#37

Post by reilly3000 »

steelstraw wrote: post #24
qbasic_forever wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having grown up in the midwest and moved to the PNW as an adult, the PNW does not manage snowfall in populated areas. This is not a fault of the people but rather the infrastructure--there just aren't enough plows, de-icing agents, etc. In Ohio for example when winter storm warnings occur there will be armies of plow drivers mobilized and removing snow almost the minute it hits. They realize the sooner you can get it…

But is it worth having such infrastructure in the PNW? How often would it be used compared to Ohio?

Spokane in eastern WA stands in contrast, where there is an average annual snowfall of 44 inches and 17 inches of rain. Seattle averages 5 inches of snow and 40 inches of rain. Hence Spokane maintains an enviable fleet of snowplowing equipment and a deep bench of citizens-plowers… Seattle has little of that sort but quite a bit of rainwater harvesting.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#38

Post by lotsofpulp »

rootusrootus wrote: post #32
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around Thanksgiving, I drove through Portland on my way up to Washington and then back to Cali. Even with the roads dry and snow-free, traffic was a frickin' nightmare. Even so, Portlanders should feel good that traffic there is still better than driving through Seattle.

About fifty years ago, when building out new freeways was a thing, Portland revolted and stopped building new roads. We haven't built anything meaningful since completing I205 in the 80s. But the city continues to grow. Traffic sucks because the local government has bet the future on light rail.

> Traffic sucks because the local government has bet the future on light rail.

In a place with consistent high population growth like Portland, induced demand would create congestion on 2, 3, 5, or even 10 lanes of road.

Investing in modes of transport where each person requires less space is the only way to have both population growth and not look like Houston or Dallas or Atlanta.

Re: Is It Snowing in Portland, Oregon?

#40

Post by gautamdivgi »

rootusrootus wrote: post #25

I've lived in the midwest, and in Portland. What many people don't get is that Portland has hills bigger than what people in the midwest would call a mountain. Also, snow in late December is relatively rare. We missed a white Christmas by one day. Only have an inch here where I'm at, but hey, take what you can get.

Chicago was a balmy 55 on Christmas Eve. It was in the lower to mid 40’s on Christmas Day. No white Christmas here. Just some rain.
Post reply on HN