Urban Snowboarding

Things are looking up. I started Sunday with no power, freezing and clinging to the tail end of a nasty head cold. We picked up around 10 inches of snow and ice last night. As if this wasn’t enough, it was coupled with near 40mph winds which naturally knocked out our power. However, my antibiotics are starting to kick in, the power is back on and I even got a few runs in on Mendenhall Street . Because of the ice,  its probably the worst snow I have ever boarded on, but it was also cheapest lift ticket I have ever purchased.

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Something warm

It’s been requested that I post a photo of something warm since most of us are experiencing winter in some fashion this week.  Sounds good to me. This is from our recent trip to Mexico. In fact, its the same tree as the sunset shot I posted a few weeks ago. For the most part the grass on the plantation looked like crab crass from a Dr Seuss book. I liked this one palm tree though because for some reason it was surrounded by a patch of  soft green grass. I shot at a low angle to get the horizon in the middle 3rd of the frame as well as to create a siloette of the tree in front of the sun.  The key to the shot though is the meter reading and subsequent exposure. If taken on the grass or tree the sky would have been blown out and if it was taken on the sun the detail of the grass would have been lost. I spot metered the shot just above the sun and brought out just a touch more highlights from the grass in post processing. I like the shot because your eye follows the shadow through the grass, to the tree, and then the palms point you across the fame.    

f22 1/160th sec @ 24mm

The Results

Well, the flakes have been counted and the grand total accumulation here in the West Hills is… 3 inches. Its tough to tell though because its a dry snow (very odd for this area) and drifting up to 2 feet while other areas are bare. It’s being dubbed “Snow Blast 08″ and its not going any where for a couple of days with the cold temperatures. In fact, it sounds like we might get more on Wednesday! 

The Odds

The first winter storm warning of the season has been issued for the Portland Metro area. If  your from the area the title of this entry has already made you chuckle. I’ve only lived here for 5 years, but in my estimate 15% of the time these warnings are valid. Portland is a unique winter weather area in that we get tons of precipitation in the winter, but this is almost always rain because the low and constant cloud cover keeps the temperatures just above freezing. However,  apparently as we speak a giant cold mass is going through customs and moving into the area from Canada.  I dont know why, the exchange rate is 1 – 1.244 and from what i’m told they have better weed, so it just doesn’t make sense to me.  The media, along with their triple doppler storm tracker high-definition radar,  have been hyping this one for a couple of days now and i’ve begun to see  several titles that have made me smile:

“artic blast 2008″

“Wind, rain and snow followed by severe cold to test region”

“Oprah weighs 200 pounds!”

Okay, the last one was on the magazine in the checkout stand, but it still made me smile. And who knows, maybe they named the storm Oprah…

All im saying is lets not freak out at the weather reports. Sure, they’re calling for a high of 28 degrees on Monday, but as long as we can still get in touch with FIMA I feel secure. Finally,  before I get to my weather predictions, when the 11 o-clock news said I need to prepare by obtaining alternate sources of heat… will an extra hot cafe mocha do?

40% Just Rain at the valley floor with Snow atop the West Hills

25% Snow under 2 inches accumulation  (still enough to make the front page of the Oregoian)

10% Snow between 2-3 inches in accumulation. (somehow 10 people will become missing)

7% Snow over 3 inches in accumulation.  ( National Guard will be activated)

13% Substantial Icing. (This really does suck, look up ”car on ice Portland” on youtube)

5% Oregon will detach from the continental US and float to Siberia. Don’t worry, we will learn to trade lattes for fur to stay warm… Except the hippies, they’ll protest the wearing ofFur but eventually give up and knit something cozy.

Oregon December Sunset

Three words that you don’t often see together here in Portland. So far it has been a fairly mild winter. Considering a year ago the town of Vernonia was under water and we were experiencing 100+ mph winds; I’ll stop to enjoy a sunset like this in December any chance I can.