Merrill, how could I have forgotten about the ice storms? And that half inch of or more of ice covers EVERYTHING and is just like soapy glass!! Aaarrgghh!!! Merrill Jensen <merrill@gamblegarden.org> wrote: The winds that come shrieking down the Gorge in winter can be brutal. What happens is cold arctic air builds out in the Columbia basin. The colder, denser air follows the terrain and gets funneled down the Columbia River with tree shredding speed. The east side of Portland can have horrible ice storms while the rest of the Portland metro area just has rain. I've driven into areas that were coated with more than .5" of ice with power lines and tree limbs down all over. The rest of the year, the northern Willamette Valley climate doesn't vary to degree that it does in certain areas of California, such as the Bay Area. I live twenty miles north of Palo Alto and there can be a twenty degree difference on a summer afternoon. Merrill Jensen, former Oregon resident that is hoping to head back north in the near future; roasting in Palo Alto where the first Cyclamen hederifolium started blooming yesterday. That's partially determined by the Columbia River and Gorge, which brings Arctic-type temperatures west and somewhat south. When it's 25 in Tigard with no snow, it will probably be 10 or below in the areas you mentioned with a foot or more of snow. I recently visited relatives in Tigard, OR (SW of Portland) and traveled to the vicinity of Mt Hood, the fruit growing region on the northeast of the mountain. I know that in CA, the climate/zone/temps and rainfall can vary dramatically from east to west. My relatives told me that in Tigard, there is very little snow and temps rarely get lower than 25F. Is this also true of Gresham, Estacada, and other towns east of Portland? Dell _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php