BLI snowman Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Just thought I'd share some nice goodies after perusing through the old Oregonian microfilm (1862-1987) which the Multnomah County Library system generously offers for free online to its members. I have uploaded some of the more significant front pages in PDF format so non-members can view them. Lots of interesting reading if one has some spare time. January 13, 1916: Near blizzard hits Portland, very frigid temps 01131916.pdf February 3, 1916: Historic snow in Seattle and ice/snow in Portland 02031916.pdf December 13, 1919: Massive arctic outbreak following a 20-30" snowstorm around Portland (unfortunately the interesting articles from this episode are cropped off on the left side of the microfilm) 12131919.pdf November 21, 1921: Historic winter storm with flooding and ice around Portland, snow around Seattle, and 35" of snow in 24 hours at The Dalles 11211921.pdf February 14, 1923: Historic snowstorm and late winter cold spell (those temps are ridiculous!) 02141923.pdf January 29, 1929: Big snowstorm and arctic blast, unfortunately though article is stupidly cropped again 01291929.pdf January 18, 1930: Cold spell begins to freeze rivers, includes a fun little early forecast bust as a relieving warm-up turned into.... 01181930.pdf January 20, 1930: Another blizzard 01201930.pdf December 12, 1932: Snow in San Francisco, arctic blast continues in NW 121121932.pdf February 9, 1933: Cold cold cold 02091933.pdf January 21, 1935: Another extreme cold snap 01211935.pdf October 30, 1935: A freak early snow in the area 10301935.pdf February 8, 1936: A freak arctic front setting the stage for a freak month of February 02081936.pdf April 2, 1936: A freak late snow. 1935-36 was just a freakshow all around. 04021936.pdf February 2, 1937: Blizzard cripples Portland region 02021937.pdf December 28, 1937: Historic regional rainstorm, with a wet snow cameo 12281937.pdf January 22, 1943: Another totally crippling snowstorm, that world war thing still a little more important.... 01221943.pdf January 14, 1950: Wild Friday the 13th storm 01141950.pdf January 20, 1950: The ice storm to end all ice storms 01201950.pdf January 31, 1950: A chilly day to cap off a chilly month 01319150.pdf 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLI snowman Posted November 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Another string of them March 9, 1951: Serious wet snow dump in historic regional weather pattern 03091951.pdf January 7, 1952: 7" of snow on the ground in Portland? Looks pretty, now have fun at school today kids. 01071952.pdf January 17, 1954: Another big regional snowstorm, a little lost in the shuffle 01171954.pdf November 17, 1955: Historic fall cold and incoming snowstorm 11171955.pdf January 28, 1956: Big Portland snowstorm going into a nice cold spell 01281956.pdf January 20, 1960: Nice snowstorm, complete with a reminder that even then winters used to be a lot better 01201960.pdf March 4, 1960: More March shenangians, snow literally everywhere 03041960.pdf October 13, 1962: Not quite winter, but rather historic nonetheless 10131962.pdf December 19,1964: Overrunning blizzard, cold.... 12191964.pdf December 23, 1964: Followed by the sometimes icky consequences of a little snow fun 12231964.pdf December 31, 1968: Polar vortex drops in to say hello 12311968.pdf January 27, 1969: More snow, Eugene gets annihilated 01271969.pdf April 6, 1972: Not winter, but again, pretty historic 04061972.pdf December 6, 1972: Mini-blizzard ushers in epic cold wave 12061972.pdf November 23, 1977: Historic November snowfall in Portland 11231977.pdf November 20, 1978: More November snow, along with a Jonestown cameo (!) 11201978.pdf January 11, 1979: Crippling ice storm hits Portland region 0111979.pdf January 10, 1980: Epic multi-day snowstorm for some, ice storm for others 01101980.pdf June 13, 1980: Again, not quite a winter storm, but an ash storm.. 06131980.pdf December 25, 1983: Epic east windstorm during cold-air-outbreak of the century 12251983.pdf 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverFallsAndrew Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Nice! 1 Quote Snowfall Precip 2022-23: 95.0" 2022-23: 17.39" 2021-22: 52.6" 2021-22: 91.46" 2020-21: 12.0" 2020-21: 71.59" 2019-20: 23.5" 2019-20: 58.54" 2018-19: 63.5" 2018-19: 66.33" 2017-18: 30.3" 2017-18: 59.83" 2016-17: 49.2" 2016-17: 97.58" 2015-16: 11.75" 2015-16: 68.67" 2014-15: 3.5" 2013-14: 11.75" 2013-14: 62.30 2012-13: 16.75" 2012-13: 78.45 2011-12: 98.5" 2011-12: 92.67" It's always sunny at Winters Hill! Fighting the good fight against weather evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT-SEA Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Great stuff... I love reading old newspapers. The other things in the news are almost as interesting as the snow and cold stories. Quote **REPORTED CONDITIONS AND ANOMALIES ARE NOT MEANT TO IMPLY ANYTHING ON A REGIONAL LEVEL UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crf450ish Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 February 3, 1916 snow 2 feet deep in downtown Seattle district. Can you imagine what that would be like now? Pure madness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wx_statman Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Great work! I’ll have to go through all of those when I have time. I remember forcing my dad to drive me to Multnomah Library so I could look at old microfilms of the Oregonian. I was about 13-14 years old at the time. Naturally, I went straight to 1950! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLI snowman Posted November 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Great work! I’ll have to go through all of those when I have time. I remember forcing my dad to drive me to Multnomah Library so I could look at old microfilms of the Oregonian. I was about 13-14 years old at the time. Naturally, I went straight to 1950! Thanks! If there's any other dates anyone was wondering about or would like to see, then let me know. Looks like I haven't used up all my upload space just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeatherArchive Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Morning Side College has it here. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?db=EANX-CEnot sure if it works directly from the link if not then go to https://morningside.libguides.com/az.php it doesn't require a password on either Chrome nor Firefox. I just click it and it goes to Newsbank selections and choose (America's Historical Papers up to 2000) and if you type a date in you can see the list of papers available for that date if you just want to jump to that paper. Sometimes the dates are off like it shows Bellingham Herald only up to 1941 on the list BUT if you search for weather articles during the Jan 1950 period for example it will show things from then. It also has the Seattle Times and Idaho Statesmen for Boise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 This is awesome, thanks man. Quote Live Weather Cam: https://www.youtube.com/live/KxlIo8-KVpc?si=xKLCFYWbZieAfyh6 PWS Wunderground https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KMDBETHE62 PWS CWOP/NOAA: https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=F3819&hours=72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Ranger Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 February 3, 1916 snow 2 feet deep in downtown Seattle district. Can you imagine what that would be like now? Pure madness. I think Dec 1996 had about 18" in downtown Seattle. 1 Quote A forum for the end of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow_wizard Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 February 3, 1916 snow 2 feet deep in downtown Seattle district. Can you imagine what that would be like now? Pure madness. Seattle actually topped out at 29 inches. They also had a max depth of 29 in 1893. 1 Quote Death To Warm Anomalies! Winter 2023-24 stats Total Snowfall = 1.0" Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1 Total Hail = 0.0 Total Ice = 0.2 Coldest Low = 13 Lows 32 or below = 45 Highs 32 or below = 3 Lows 20 or below = 3 Highs 40 or below = 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow_wizard Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Thanks! If there's any other dates anyone was wondering about or would like to see, then let me know. Looks like I haven't used up all my upload space just yet. Great post! I think the January 1972 snowstorm in Seattle was worth mentioning. Good combination of cold and heavy snow. I think it was on the 26th. Quote Death To Warm Anomalies! Winter 2023-24 stats Total Snowfall = 1.0" Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1 Total Hail = 0.0 Total Ice = 0.2 Coldest Low = 13 Lows 32 or below = 45 Highs 32 or below = 3 Lows 20 or below = 3 Highs 40 or below = 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow_wizard Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Great stuff... I love reading old newspapers. The other things in the news are almost as interesting as the snow and cold stories. The ones from the 1800s are really fun. The medical tonics and other quackery were hysterical. 1 Quote Death To Warm Anomalies! Winter 2023-24 stats Total Snowfall = 1.0" Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1 Total Hail = 0.0 Total Ice = 0.2 Coldest Low = 13 Lows 32 or below = 45 Highs 32 or below = 3 Lows 20 or below = 3 Highs 40 or below = 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 February 3, 1916 snow 2 feet deep in downtown Seattle district. Can you imagine what that would be like now? Pure madness.Nothing quite like cross country skiing down a major interstate during blizzard conditions, lol. A bunch of people did it here during the blizzard back in 2016. Quote Live Weather Cam: https://www.youtube.com/live/KxlIo8-KVpc?si=xKLCFYWbZieAfyh6 PWS Wunderground https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KMDBETHE62 PWS CWOP/NOAA: https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=F3819&hours=72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawniganLake Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 February 3, 1916 snow 2 feet deep in downtown Seattle district. Can you imagine what that would be like now? Pure madness.I wish Shawnigan Lake had snow depth records back that far. Between Jan 1 and Feb 9th, they recorded 135” of snow and only 1 day with a high temp above 35F. Also, only on 1 occasion did the snow turn to rain. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLI snowman Posted November 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Great post! I think the January 1972 snowstorm in Seattle was worth mentioning. Good combination of cold and heavy snow. I think it was on the 26th. That did earn a front page mention on The Oregonian, a mostly dry arctic event for Portland though. 01261972.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crf450ish Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Nothing quite like cross country skiing down a major interstate during blizzard conditions, lol. A bunch of people did it here during the blizzard back in 2016.I rode my snowmobile down Washington State highway 25 last December. 10" fell overnight on the 26th at my house. I rode the ol' 92' Yamaha exciter to the local gas station that is 10 mies down the road. Nothing like doing 75mph down a rural state highway on fresh unplowed snow . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MossMan Posted November 7, 2017 Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 I think Dec 1996 had about 18" in downtown Seattle.I have news coverage from that event on VHS! Pretty awesome stuff! I had nearly 2 feet fall in just a 12hr timespan. it was epic! Quote Elevation 580’ Location a few miles east of I-5 on the Snohomish Co side of the Snohomish/Skagit border. I love snow/cold AND sun/warmth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wx_statman Posted November 8, 2017 Report Share Posted November 8, 2017 The ones from the 1800s are really fun. The medical tonics and other quackery were hysterical. It's amazing the kind of crap that used to be advertised. Even the state climate summaries from the Weather Bureau used to have advertisements in them. Totally random stuff too, like "Bill's horse feed" or whatever. Different times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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