The coast doesn't see snowfall very often and this winter thus far has been undeniably warm. Portland, OR recorded the second warmest January on record! Yet there were a couple of days that produced some snow on the Long Beach Peninsula, mostly on the northern tip up near Oysterville and Leadbetter Point.Now the photo at left was taken last month by my sister who lives in Oysterville. That isn't a lot of snow, but it is sea level at the beach, so having one of the warmest Januaries on record and still getting a light dusting of snow is, well, kind of weird.
Such is life on the wild and wet coast! Speaking of wet, the Peninsula reported more than 20 inches of rain last month and that is a fair wallop of water. Our rain gauges all over Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon have been running a bit dry for several seasons so this is a welcome drenching.
All of these warm and wet systems tend to produce excellent storm watching opportunities along the shore. Just be careful, stand back away from the crashing waves and NEVER turn your back on the mighty Pacific Ocean!
