Snow fell Saturday in Hood River, after a week of below freezing temperatures void of moisture. The heavens finally opened up and dumped sparkling white flakes, covering everything it touched. However, not everyone in our area encountered fluffy white precipitation. Ever heard of "freezing rain?" Paul and I asked the same question when we first heard Oregonian locals referring to this wicked weather hazard. The main interstate from Hood River to Troutdale (about a 45 mile stretch of highway between Hood River and Portland) was closed due to freezing rain. According to Wikipedia, the definition of freezing rain is as follows: "Freezing rain is a type of precipitation that begins as snow at higher altitude, falling from a cloud towards earth, melts completely on its way down while passing through a layer of air above freezing temperature, and then encounters a layer below freezing at lower level to become supercooled. This water will then freeze upon impact with any object it encounters" (in our case yesterday, the road).
When the snow first began to fall I was caught off guard indoors at my Master Gardeners class. Of course I was driving our Yaris, our front wheel drive wind-up toy. The trusty Yaris got me home safely as the snow continued to fall.
So, this morning our lives continued as normal, except for having to wade knee deep in snow to uncover our vehicles. As the day went on, the roads were plowed and our neighbor graciously came over to plow our driveway. I thought to myself, "Why couldn't the highway be closed TOMMORROW so that I would be "forced" to take a three day weekend from work?" Oh well, it's back to the daily grind, except that the view is now covered in pure white.
The picture you see are from the morning after the main bulk of the storm. Today it continued to snow, but the accumulation was not so immense.
When the snow first began to fall I was caught off guard indoors at my Master Gardeners class. Of course I was driving our Yaris, our front wheel drive wind-up toy. The trusty Yaris got me home safely as the snow continued to fall. So, this morning our lives continued as normal, except for having to wade knee deep in snow to uncover our vehicles. As the day went on, the roads were plowed and our neighbor graciously came over to plow our driveway. I thought to myself, "Why couldn't the highway be closed TOMMORROW so that I would be "forced" to take a three day weekend from work?" Oh well, it's back to the daily grind, except that the view is now covered in pure white.
The picture you see are from the morning after the main bulk of the storm. Today it continued to snow, but the accumulation was not so immense.
