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For much of the past two weeks, Portlanders have craned their heads skyward, watching for snow. It arrived, in fits and starts—several inches over five nights, dusting the sidewalks and melting after sunrise each morning. It was a far cry from the winter storms that incapacitated Portland in 2016 and last February. (And, for that matter, the feet of snow now snarling traffic on Interstate 84 in the Columbia River Gorge—if you’re reading this in the car, don’t drive east!) But it set off what every Portland snowfall does: a lively debate whether our citizenry and infrastructure are uniquely fragile. In this instance, the discussion was intensified by government efforts to shelter unhoused people from the cold. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Lady Cham, via wweek.com: “I lived in Chicago…bring it on!
“Let’s see how many cars end up piled all over the highways. Then, we’ll see the real snowflakes demand free towing again…”
fifth_doctor, in response: “It’s not so much the snow as it is the ice here. Temps tend to go back and forth over the freezing point, making the roads icy and not snowy. “Driving in snow is fine. Driving on ice is another issue entirely. Admittedly, we lack the infrastructure here for dealing with either.
“I grew up in the Chicago area and learned to drive in a rear-wheel-drive car with a manual transmission—during winter. It’s not hard to get around when the roads are plowed and salted.”
Stairwell Banjoele, via Twitter: “Can’t wait to ski to the grocery store like last year.”
Jill Holleran-Bunting, via Facebook: “Hey. Anyone remember ‘Snowmageddon’ I think in 2019? They said it was going to dump on us and it was gonna be the worst? Grocery stores had entirely empty shelves ‘cause people were stocking up for, I dunno, months? Then we got literally zero snow…not a single flake? I’ll believe this when I see it.”
Kurt Chapman, via wweek.com: “Well, when the physical location is some 20 degrees north of the Tropic of Cancer it occurs. Like. Almost. Every. Year.”
Brian Miller, via Facebook: “We’ve had a very, very warm fall and early winter. When ever it does that in the Pac NW, it’s followed by a wave of severely cold sprees. They don’t always last for long lengths of time, but they can cause a lot of trouble during it if you are not prepared. What to worry about more: Unlike years past, we did not have such a big population of homeless or people in RVs and the like without power; they won’t be able to handle it and survive.”
Luke Albright, via Facebook: “I just hope the snow has been vaccinated twice and then once again a third time.”
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