We had plenty of warning for this monster storm, but that doesn’t make it any less “chilling”. Oregon and much of the Pacific Northwest is hunkered down at home (as we expect to do this time of year) just waiting on/enduring the big blast of frigid air that has come thundering down from the north. Temps tumbled from the upper 30s (degrees Fahrenheit)) at noon yesterday to about 20 in less than 3 hours. Cold, but dry; too dry for snow. The +45mph winds kicked up around 10pm last night (as Merlin and I went for our last walk of the day), and even though I was wearing two parkas, it cut right through all that down. Eye-watering cold. This morning, the thermometer on my balcony (rimmed by pink lights) registered at 20 degrees (with wind chill, we have a ‘feels like’ temperature of 0 degrees (that’s -17 Celsius for my friends in Australia and the UK)), and that is the expected high temperature for today.
What little snow we’ve seen thus far is just powdered sugar, whipped up by the winds. It’s too cold and dry to be worrisome, but sometime later today, the bitter winds and sub-freezing temps will collide with an atmospheric river of rain driving up from the south and sit right over the Portland area for a couple days. Actually, based on the weather warnings, the heart of the ‘weather event’ is expected to be right over me and several of my writer-peep friends here in Beaverton. I’m keeping an eye on the bird bath and hummingbird feeder, and thawing out both every hour for the birds. I’m also keeping the porch and deck lights on so the birds have a somewhat warmer place to seek shelter fro the wind and cold. Not worried about snow or rain; it’s the ice that will keep me & the dog inside. It’s not a sure thing, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Nothing to do now, but write.
