Coastal Oregon weather

[Birdo]

Greetings from Maine. We're considering relocating, partly because of the long winters here, and Astoria is one of the areas we're considering. My husband grew up in Corvallis, and he keeps warning me about weeks of continuous rain in the winter. Isn't this an exaggeration? I've been watching the weather forecasts on the web, and it really doesn't seem that bad. Yes, you'll get two or three days of rain, but then you'll get a day or two of clear or partly cloudy weather.

Once in a while even in New England we'll get several days of clouds/drizzle/rain at a time. That's not a problem. I just want to avoid weeks on end of dreariness. I'll ride in the rain, but I'd rather not have to do it all the time!

So, speaking as cyclists, how bad is it?

[Shifty]

Variable from year to year. I cycle year round, this year January was a very rainy month, I got in 2 days on the bike. I've seen periods of 6 to 8 weeks of rain every day, but not constant rain for that long, but some rain every day. By March the pattern shifts, more nice days than bad days, and by July to September the weather is perfect, dry and cool.

When it rains on the coast and in the valley, it's snow in the Cascades, I ski, so I love the rain in winter and the snow we get in the mountains. Also, the rain is what provides for the most beautiful forests, rivers and farmland in the country, I may get a bit tired of the rain, I always LOVE what it give us, so I can live with the downside. After a couple winters here, I totally adjusted to the climate, and would miss it if I ever leave Oregon.

[Birdo]

Variable from year to year... After a couple winters here, I totally adjusted to the climate, and would miss it if I ever leave Oregon.

Thanks. That's helpful.

Anybody else care to respond? Seem to be lots of folks reading but not many answering.

[Catgrrl70]

We're still at work!
Well, I second the information given above. I don't live on the OR coast, but go frequently. It can be gloomy and rainy but really, it's winter. And it's beautiful. If you haven't been (?) then you should visit. Summers are great. Husband and I were on the OR coast a year ago for a week, and never were rained on.

[randya]

not an exaggeration

[BengeBoy]

Anybody else care to respond? Seem to be lots of folks reading but not many answering.

I think if you look at rain charts the areas slightly inland are less rainy than the coast itself.

You can also consider the "rain shadow" of the Olympics here in Washington. Look up Sequim, Washington. It's on the Olympic Peninsula, but tucked just behind the Olympic Mountain Range so the rain clouds pass over. You can search around for rainfall charts by location; there's a pretty a pretty dramatic difference between Sequim and other towns just a few miles away.

BTW, here in Seattle, I've been on my bike 53 days so far this year.

[Shifty]

I forgot to mention this. A rainy day can be VERY nice with a pot of coffee, a good book or two, a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir, cookies and a lover! You may hope the rain doesn't stop for a while.

[randya]

Astoria is completely exposed right on the coast at the mouth of the Columbia River. No mountains to provide a rain shadow. Very windy and rainy for an average of nine months per year (October - June). Not nearly as cold as Maine, as Pacific currents moderate coastal temps. Poke around here (http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=pqr) and here (http://www.ocs.orst.edu/county_climate/Clatsop_files/Clatsop.html) if you want real weather stats for Astoria. Annual Rainfall is ~65 to 90 inches at lower elevations on the coast. Corvallis is considerably less, as it is in the rain shadow of the coastal mountains.

[mattm]

I forgot to mention this. A rainy day can be VERY nice with a pot of coffee, a good book or two, a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir, cookies and a lover! You may hope the rain doesn't stop for a while.

that or a set of full fenders will do the trick.

[BengeBoy]

that or a set of full fenders will do the trick.

Don't forget the booties.

Fenders + booties -- that's hot.

[Birdo]

A rainy day can be VERY nice with a pot of coffee, a good book or two, a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir, cookies and a lover!

I like that approach. Works for snowy days in Maine, too. Beverage of choice is mulled cider with a shot of rum.

Thanks, everyone.

[skiph]

I’m about 70 miles NW of Shifty (Eugene) in Newport (as the crow flies), and at road milepost 137, south of Astoria (MP 0) on US 101.

Yes, it rains here quite a bit. A quick check of last year’s precip at the local airport showed 46”.

January 1 to March 14, 2008 shows 11” so far (hmmm, seems kinda low to me…).

However, looking at my riding log, I count:

January: 11 days. A couple of those days were a ‘rain’ rides, the rest, the roads might have been wet, or it might have sprinkled some, but only a couple of days where it was really raining. Some days it was clear and quite cool, heavy frost and the roads slippery early in the morning, so would have to wait for things to thaw out.

February: 11 days. No ‘rain’ rides, maybe some wet roads. Some frost early AM. I was sick for about a week, lost 3-4 rideable days in there.

March: 9 days so far. Sprinkled on a couple of times, but not really ‘raining’. This week it has been quite stormy again, after some pretty good weather last week.

I do have the questionable luxury of being self-employed and can ‘bug-out’ during regular working hours at times.

As Shifty will probably verify, sometimes over in the ‘valley’, it will be foggy and overcast, but over here on the ‘coast’ it will be clear and sunny.

Our second biggest problem is the wind. Some days in the winter, it might be fairly clear, but it will be way too windy to ride.

Same problem in the summer..we have quite strong northwest winds at times, sometimes starting by 9 or 10 in the morning. Other days, it will hold off until late afternoon. The NW wind is sometimes accompanied by thick sea fog right along the beach strip, temperatures in the upper 40’s/low 50’s, but it will be 20-30 degrees warmer 5-10 miles inland.

Hope this helps.

[vaticdart]

I think if you look at rain charts the areas slightly inland are less rainy than the coast itself.

You can also consider the "rain shadow" of the Olympics here in Washington. Look up Sequim, Washington. It's on the Olympic Peninsula, but tucked just behind the Olympic Mountain Range so the rain clouds pass over. You can search around for rainfall charts by location; there's a pretty a pretty dramatic difference between Sequim and other towns just a few miles away.

BTW, here in Seattle, I've been on my bike 53 days so far this year.

Sequim is like the Florida of Washington: dry and sunny and full of older folks. If that's your thing, grand, but I'd never consider living there.

An important point is that Seattle is in the Olympic's rain shadow as well. Seattle's annual rain fall is about on par with Houston, TX, we just get a lot more drizzle and cloudy days then they do. As others have said, you get used to it. Once you figure out your clothes and lights you can ride in pretty much anything this part of the world throws at you. I commute, so I've been on my bicycle almost every day this past winter, and that's on a "sport-racing" road bike that only has clip on fenders. The only thing that stopped me was snow and ice.

More to the OP, the Northwest is rainy, but like you said, it'll rain for a few days, then be nice. Or, when it rains rains rains for weeks at a time you'll still get breaks where the sun will come out for a few hours. I love it here, and I moved from California.

[timmhaan]

if you're coming from a maine winter you're going to find oregon very easy in comparison.

[Northwestrider]

It rains a lot that is true, but I love it here.

[rnorris]

Whether the winters in Astoria are an improvement for you over those in Maine depends on what it is you find that's troublesome about your "long winters" there. If it's the long stretches of subfreezing weather, you will find relief from that in Astoria. If it's the long stretch of many weeks with weak daylight, Astoria will likely be worse than Maine, as the breaks in its winter weather are much rarer (the stretches of cold sunny winter days that New England gets are much less common in the Pacific Northwest). As stated above, fenders, hot coffee, good books, and maybe some wine are great companions to a Pacific Northwest winter. And good friends to ride with! Astoria's a very pleasant town.

[Birdo]

Whether the winters in Astoria are an improvement for you over those in Maine depends on what it is you find that's troublesome about your "long winters" there. If it's the long stretches of subfreezing weather, you will find relief from that in Astoria. If it's the long stretch of many weeks with weak daylight, Astoria will likely be worse than Maine...

It's the cold, yes, but also the winter road conditions - snow, ice, slush, a thick coat of grit, topped off by tall snowbanks on both sides that take up the shoulders, and obscure the sight lines at driveways and intersections. Maybe back in my Press On Regardless years I would have been out there anyway, but now that I'm AARP-eligible I seem to be more timid - or wiser. :o

We're aware that Astoria is north of our current location, so days will be slightly shorter in the winter. And it will be cloudy much of the time. We're willing to make that trade-off if the area otherwise appeals to us.

[gaston_45]

It's the cold, yes, but also the winter road conditions - snow, ice, slush, a thick coat of grit, topped off by tall snowbanks on both sides that take up the shoulders, and obscure the sight lines at driveways and intersections. Maybe back in my Press On Regardless years I would have been out there anyway, but now that I'm AARP-eligible I seem to be more timid - or wiser. :o

We're aware that Astoria is north of our current location, so days will be slightly shorter in the winter. And it will be cloudy much of the time. We're willing to make that trade-off if the area otherwise appeals to us.

I live a few miles outside of Astoria and everything you just described except the snow banks could be our winters. It only snows a few days in the winter and melts off in a day or two but it is continually cloudy, gray, and cold from around November to late April or so. I had to scrape a half inch of a mixture of hail and rain that had frozen to the the windshield this morning. I was doing the scraping in a light rain... at 33 degrees, which is normal from December to around the end of this month.

I'm telling you this so you don't become another one of the latest crop of people that move here for the art stuff and "little San Fransisco" hype only to discover that the hype is not true. It's a great town, no doubt about it, but the weather is dreary and the town's history is logging and fishing. This leads to a lot of bad blood between the locals that grew up fishing and logging and the newcomers that are here for the artsy stuff and think bambi should be saved from the evil rednecks.

If you do move here, please, please don't start complaining about the weather, most of us either don't notice it or actually enjoy it.

[Shifty]

Given the above, you may want to spend a few days in Eugene to check it out. It's a nice liberal community with a university, great cycling and better climate than the coast. We'd welcome you here.

[Pharaoh1]

I've lived and visited numerous places around the world, I cannot see living anywhere else. Yes, the rain does get old, but you adapt. I live about 60 miles east of the coast and went on a 40-mile ride today. Sixty degrees, little wind, and a coffee shop every 25 feet!

If you don't have to live on the coast the Willamette Valley is a good alternative. Much less rain and still only an hour from the beach and mountains.

Come for a visit; even if you don't move here you'll have a wonderful vacation!

Scott