First Big Winter Storm

Today is day two of a three day storm. Yesterday we had snow, rain, and wind. We were at the beach with a very strong, constant wind - gusting up to 80 mph. The wind never let up all night, and was interspersed with downpours of rain. Morning came, and the winds continued to pick up - by 11:15 we lost electricity. We were able to have lunch in town - arriving between power outages. We ordered quickly - things that didn't require cooking! That meant crab salads for the ladies, and already prepared - and still hot - bowls of clam chowder for the men. The electricity went out again before we were served. Luckily the chosen restaurant has all windows on two sides, giving as much light as we needed to eat - as well as a view of the storm. The ocean swells continued to churn and rise, and the wind blowing sideways past the windows carried sheets of sand along with it. I took some pictures thru the rain spattered windows, but haven't downloaded them yet to see how they turned out. We finished lunch quickly since getting back to Portland before the weather turned even nastier was a priority for us.

We went back to the house, packed our clothes, fully charged cell phones, and several bags of winter survival supplies: food, water, extra jackets and rain gear, wind up flashlights and radio, plastic bags, and lots of towels. We had these in addition to the supplies we already had in our car. Getting stuck in the snow,a mudslide, or stopped by a fallen tree - I wanted to be able to survive until help arrived!

We hadn't gone far before we began to see evidence of storm damage. All along the highway were the remains of trees which had obviously fallen accross the road, and been cleared by crews with chainsaws. There was much more snow along the sides of the road than the day before -it helped to brighten things up! There was one tree leaning precariously over the road - looked ready to fall on a car at any moment. I held my breath as we drove underneath. The next time we saw a road crew clearing downed trees, we stopped to alert them to what looked like the next tree to go down. They got in their truck and sped off - along with the policeman who had stopped to talk to the crew. We continued on our way. The closer we got to Portland, the less wind we had - the trade off was - the rain fell harder and harder. We arrived home safe and sound, and turned on the tv to check the weather forecast.

The forecast isn't good - storm number three ramping up to make it's run somewhere in the wee hours of the morning - and will last until mid day. Winds will be even stronger - hurricane force gusts at the coast, up to 50 mph or so here in Portland. Rain will continue, and the threat of flooding more of a fact than a threat. Sand bags are being passed out in some areas for residents to begin the process of trying to limit as much damage as possible. I just noticed that I haven't heard the howling of the wind for about an hour now - but the rain just keeps pounding down.

The oldest tree in the US - a Sitka Spruce near Seaside/Cannon Beach, succumbed to the winds today, breaking off about 50 feet above it's base. It had survived 750 years of storms and weather - and today's storm took it down - sad.