Surprise!

The Portland airport (PDX) where the official snowfall is recorded, tallied 10.8" - the 2nd largest single day snowfall in the history of record keeping. We were expecting our usual dusting, maybe an inch or two - the forecasts were all different, but no one thought we'd get this much snow. Surprise! 

The commute home for many people last night was a disaster - taking many hours, some abandoning their vehicles when the slid on ice, which of course makes the situation much worse. Because we have so little winter weather, the city doesn't have a huge fleet of snowplows. And it's a very hilly city, especially one of the main highways headed west. And then there are bridges - 12 within city limits and another three that cross to Washington State. And if you live in a cold state, you know that bridges freeze first. What a mess!

But I didn't have to go anywhere today - everything was cancelled, and it will be again tomorrow. The overnight lows will be 17F/-8.3C after a high of 29F/-1.6C today. Any snow that did melt on this sunny, cold day, will freeze tonight. It looks like it will warm up above freezing tomorrow, but another extremely cold night tomorrow (15F!). 

I didn't go outside today - as lovely as it looked, the wind chill was extreme, and I can't risk falling on my new knee. So photos from the windows!

The main is looking out my dining room window at the gate to the complex, where the golf carts drive in (if you have a key). The extras are icicles (probably boring for some of you, but quite a spectacle here!) and finally, my view from the living room.

I'll be sick of this by tomorrow...especially the COLD!