TWENTY NINE INCHES OF SNOW - PORTLAND MAINE

Comments

[john]

looks like our portland about 4 years ago! global warming is a hoax!

[john duval]

nice. actually increased snowfall is a direct result of global warming. Go back to science class.

[john]

hah! then why not call it global cooling then? a hoax! to make people like al gore rich!

[UrbanGent]

I remember these two storms in Portland, Oregon

Winter 1949 and 1950

The winters of both 1949 and 1950 provided residents with two back-to-back horrific winters, which shattered many records, combining both extreme cold and deep snowfalls. Most of those marks were so extreme that they are still easily standing today, eg. in the extreme cold category, the average daily low in January 1949 was 21.0 degrees, and in January 1950 it was 21.2 degrees, both breaking the old "coldest month" record that had been set in 1888. Since 1950, the only cold even approaching these records was January 1985, when the mean monthly temperature was 26.8. But in the cold category, the really outstanding events of Winter 1950 were two out of the three times in history that Portland has been below zero!

Portland's all-time record low was set on February 2, 1950 at 3 below zero. Salem's second-coldest all-time low of 10 below was set on January 31, 1950 (Salem's absolute lowest is 12 below).

Deep and long-lasting snows! The winters of 1949 and 1950 gave stunned residents the experience of living in true "Snow Belt" cities, with weeks-long snow on the ground, and many very cold days with snow deeper than 10 inches on the ground....January 1950's snowfall dwarfs modern contenders, with an awesome 41 inches falling during the long, cold month (the much-touted heavy snows of Decemer 2008 totalled only about half of 1950's)...... Also of interest regarding the winter of 1949 is the little-known fact that a very unusual early-season cold invasion occurred approx. October 19-21, 1949, setting all-time record lows for the dates that in 2005 have still not been beaten-- such low temp. records are found for cities ranging all up and down the West Coast, from Olympia, WA (23 degrees), to Portland, Oregon (27 degrees), to Medford, Oregon (20 degrees), to Sacramento, Calif.(35 degrees)-- and even as far south as Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border (31 degrees)....This type of major cold air invasion was similar to the range and power to the Siberian Express of February, 1933, which set all-time cold records across several States that have never been beaten.

The Big Picture of Historic Long-term Portland Snowfalls, compliments of Steve Pierce, AMS: During the period of 1871 to the present, Portland's all-time records for snowfall include, at number one, the winter of 1892-93, with 60.9 inches of snow.... The winter of 1949-50 came in third with a total of 44.5 inches, while winter 2008-2009 is (as of January 14) only in 20th place, with a total of 21.3 inches. Within the past ten years, the next-highest contender was the winter of 2003-2004, with 12.3 inches.

Ice Storm 2004 was decidedly puny in comparison to many of the cold and snow events in Portland's historic record, for example January of 1950, or the winter of 1968-69 (see below)

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1950--- During the brutal winter of 1949-50 there was an entire month when the Portland area lay under a deep blanket of snow over a foot deep. Janary, 1950 buried the City with a total snowfall at the Airport of 41 inches! The unbelievable month ended in a record-setting cold wave, which on January 31 gave Portland a new all-time record low of 2 below zero, then promptly broke that on February 2, freezing the City with Portland's all-time record low of 3 below zero.

[Allen]

John, pick up a science book, sir. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[JoelintheBurbs]

Global warming is basically junk science. If it's too warm, it's due to global warming...if it's too cold, it's due to global warming. Isn't it nice to have it both ways. Make up your minds.

[john]

i reject all things science!

[Allen]

That explains your fact analysis then John, must be the same with Joel as well.

[john]

my great great grandparents were not apes!

[JoelintheBurbs]

MMGW is a mantra in Hollyweird. It's all they talk about between visits to their fortune tellers and chiropractors. See Allen, junk science.