Weird Weather, 2014 and 1949

This weekend I’m looking at television and seeing endless reporting on strange weather in Western Oregon and Southwest Washington. The big stories? Endless traffic tie-ups on Interstate 5 due to ice and snow, police warnings (“don’t drive unless it’s essential”), and kids having the time of their lives sledding on the snow.

Here on the coast, I stepped onto the back deck to walk to the woodpile and “coasted” on the invisible icy coating. I turned right around and came in. But now Lucy’s on the deck building a snowman. She loves this weather, and that’s why I’m calling her “the pioneer woman.”

Importantly, according to the forecast, it’ll warm up quite soon.

I compare this to a longer bout of weird weather six decades ago. I remember ice on Puget Sound and shoreline rocks, snowdrifts up to my waist, and multiple sledding and ice skating opportunities right in my Tacoma neighborhood. And cold? Very, very cold! The difference between then and now? The weird weather 65 years ago dragged on for many more days.

Get this and other Pacific Northwest weather stories from the past in Growing Green Two Ways! You’ll enjoy reading about the cold in your heated living room while “weird weather” rages. Do you have a memory of weird weather from the past? Please leave a comment.