The Oregon snow storm of 1969 | KGW Vault
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- Опубліковано 9 лис 2024
- Right at the beginning of the year in ’69, the greater Portland area got dumped on. Here’s how they were coping back then, through the lenses of the KGW reporters who covered it at the time.
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My 8 year old self was living just north of Roseburg at the time of this storm. I remember how magical it was. Some things (attitudes) have changed.
I remember that very well. I was in Hi school, 3 ft of snow in Eugene/Springfield. Many of us helped in local Civil Air Patrol assisting with doing tasks to help locals get food, medicine, or other necessities. 4-wheel drive was needed in & outside of town, as not all streets and roads were plowed. A change of routine and people helping each other was very positive.
Just when i was starting to think that i was going CRAZY too! Because all during this Storm, weather people were talking about various records being set & showing graphs & so on, but NEVER did i see or hear, even ONE mention, of the biggest snow storm in my Lifetime! The winter of 69 & i was 17! We had atleast 4 feet of snow, but drifts that were so far up our back door (in Rockwood, near Gresham) that it seemed like about 8 & we literally had to shovel ourselves OUT, from with-IN! I mean, it was massive & scary as hll quite frankly! Our front yard however, became the neighborhood skating rink, well, til enough other kids wore it down enuf that they all just moved on to another stomping ground. So Thank You, Pat, for reminding me that i haven't lost it all, just yet!!
I remember winter of '69 distinctly because I was living in Los Angeles at the time and we had more rain than I'd ever seen in my life at the time. Granted, I was only 12 y/o -- but up to that time it was shocking to see the mudslides carrying entire homes over ravines in the San Fernando Valley, flooding and relentless rain -- 30 days straight. *_In L.A._* of all places. My guess is that the meteorological setup was precisely the same back then as this current one -- cold Arctic air mass with a low pressure center pinwheeling down the west coast and pushing in copious moisture and wind all the way down. I remember the snowfall in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mtns was epic that year, like the blizzard they're in the middle of as we speak. This all looks mighty familiar.
I remember that year, I had a newspaper route and the delivery had to go on. I walked around for hours in that stuff, and since it was the Oregon Journal I delivered it in the afternoon and into the early evening. But as a kid I still enjoyed it.
I remember this. I too was 8 years old. We were living in Beaverton. The power was out for what seemed like forever, at least to an 8 year old kid. But, it was probably at least 24 hours. We had moved from Ohio to Oregon in 1967 and I was familiar with snow, but had never seen anything like that. I recall my Dad saying that it was a once in every 10-year event. I think it melted fairly fast. We moved back to Ohio in 1969, only to be clobbered by the 1978 blizzard. That was epic!
I was in Vancouver WA with the Hong Kong flu just before my 6th birthday
That wasn't the first time Portland saw significant amount of snow that caused the city of Portland to a stand still.
Man! I was born that year!!! Holy Snap!
Every year it happens
Stand-ups used to be such an art.