>A warm front is trying to push the cold weather to the east. < We in the east can attest to the fact that your front is pushing the cold weather this way! In Lynchburg, we went into our Guild meeting at 7:00 pm on Monday night and the temperatures were still around 60. By the time we left at 9:00 I think they had dropped more than 20 degrees, and the wind had picked up! Now it's quite cold. But fortunately, we have no precipitation going on, so things are clear. Chance of snow flurries on Friday.
Clay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alice Howell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 2:56 PM Subject: [lace-chat] Oregon weather - Wednesday > Winter has really come to the Northwest USA area. We are in the 4th storm > in about 2 weeks. We had snow New Year's Day so most people were > home. Kids were out of school on holiday. The main freeways were > restricted to traction devices on vehicles from border to border. It's the > first time I can remember that happening. > > Things eased up for a day, and then the current storm came in. It was > forecast as the 'storm of the century'. Yes, I know we are only in the 4th > year of this century, but its been decades since one like this hit Portland. > > There is 3-12 inches of snow in the valleys and low hills. The > temperatures dropped below freezing. My town of McMinnville seemed to be > in a 'warm' pocket and only went down to 19 degrees F. We set a new record > of the lowest 'high' temperature. It snowed for 2 days, then turned to ice > pellets and freezing rain. > > A warm front is trying to push the cold weather to the east. This warm air > caused the freezing rain. There was 1/2 inch of ice on top of my car this > morning and it is still coming down. This ice is on everything. Walking > -- driving is treacherous. Portland had twice as much ice in some > areas. It is in a direct line of the very cold winds blowing down the > Columbia River Gorge. My town is 50 miles away and protected by some hills. > > The temp has warmed up to 30 degrees right now, so we are only a couple > degrees from starting to thaw. Portland is 5-10 degrees colder with wind > chill down to about 5 degrees. > > Schools have been closed for three days. Local rail service has > closed. Buses are still running but with tires chained, thus are running > slow. Trees are coming down from the weight of the ice and causing power > outages. Business in Portland is at a standstill. The freeway east has > been closed for 18 hours. There are 160 semi-trucks parked at one truck > stop waiting to get on their way. The latest forecast is that the cold > over Portland is not moving. The highest temp predicted today is 28 > degrees F so they will not start melting yet. Winds are still at 30 miles > per hour. Freezing rain is expected to continue another 24 hours. They > predict that the schools will be closed again tomorrow and maybe Friday. > > Since Portland is not thawing, the lace meeting tomorrow will be > cancelled. Maybe we can reschedule it. We were supposed to have a > reporter and photographer from the biggest newspaper coming to write a > story on lace hearts for Valentine's Day. The president is starting the > process of rescheduling, and when I hear from her, I'll start calling > members to tell them what's happening. > We don't want any lacemakers out in this mess. > > So far, I'm weathering this okay. No power outage so the heaters are still > heating. My furnace can't cope with below freezing temps so I add some > space heaters. I've had no frozen pipes. I've made two lace hearts during > this storm. My food was stocked but the fresh veggies are running low by > now. There's lots of food in the house, however. We won't go hungry. > > The TV just showed a city bus that was stuck. It was chained to a jeep > that was chained to a large pickup. The two little vehicles pulled it free > to cheers from the people around there. > > I will we could share some of this weather with Australia. Mix the two, > and it might be rather pleasant. > > In the cold, > Alice > > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
