Whenever I hear that song, I think of the Viking Kittens video. I'd like to think the guys in Zepplin would like that.
Also, glad I don't commute. Be careful out there tomorrow!
There have been no fewer than a dozen accidents on NE 41st where it curves down along Wistaria Dr./Cesar Chavez, multple cop SUVs out there trying to safely direct traffic through, it's a complete clown show.
I’m near 33rd and Fremont, absolute shitshow with 4 busses stuck unable to continue northbound.
Edit: Atleast 6 busses stuck too lazy to walk down but it’s probably more than that.
Yeah, but not too slow. I live by a hill and I’m just sitting here watching people drive down the street at like 5 miles per hour only to get to the hill and fail to have enough momentum to get up it. Then the person who is behind them, also going five miles per hour, but for some reason only like two feet back from them, bumps their bumper.
Portlanders always go straight to “drive slow” but what you REALLY want to do is make sure you have enough space between you and the next guy to stop if necessary and still have room for slipping.
I am now on hour 3 of being stuck in PDX waiting for my escape. I think I've been up for like 29 hours at this point considering how bad I am at sleeping on planes.
Good luck!!! I hope you got to use a bathroom at some point. I don’t know what everyone out there is going to do. Or how gas is going to last sitting in traffic that long.
Getting fuel was definitely a mess. The guy running the 7 Eleven gas station near the airport is a trooper though, I hope they give some sort of storm bonus (though I know that isn't likely).
I left work at 4:45 heading north on i5. I live in downtown. I am **STILL** in the car, trying to get home.
Update: still here...
Hour 5 update: I've moved 1/4 mile in 2 hours.
Hour 6 update: I'm at mile marker 298, I've officially averaged a mile an hour. People are trying to drive down the non existent shoulder.
Final update: finally made it home. In the end total travel time was 7.5 hrs for what is typically a 15 minute commute. I'm glad I made it.
My husband came the same way. Left work at 4, finally called uncle at 8 pm as he'd just reached the tunnel downtown and we got word I84 was closed at I5 (we're in Gresham). We got him literally the last hotel room in the city. I know because every single hotel was booked up, and he sat in the lobby of the last one at 10 PM and waited until they had a cancelation.
I hope yours is safe home.
My friend was stuck in the Vista Ridge tunnel. Took her 4 hours to get from PSU to beaverton. There were cars stuck on both sides of the road for a few miles.
It is ROUGH out there. The snow certainly isn't helping, but the gridlock was the bigger problem for me. Please don't enter an intersection unless there is definitely room for you on the other side!
Also, pedestrians--stop walking in the middle of the street. Nobody can control their car right now.
Walked 5 minutes to my local Safeway a couple hours ago and there were cars just sitting in intersections honking non-stop at each other. Glad I don't have to do any driving.
Walked across the Steel Bridge because trains weren't moving. Saw:
- Abandoned school bus.
- Abandoned car with chains partially put on.
- Stuck, spinning out pickup truck
- _All_ the streets backed up because of people trying to avoid traffic (HA!)
- Wind in face getting sandblasted by icy snow. Had to use umbrella as a shield.
Caught MAX at Rose Quarter though. More people than I've seen on a MAX train since 2019.
But yeah, watching the traffic was unreal. Never so happy to be on foot.
Seriously, I walked around my neighborhood (Goose Hollow) about an hour ago and literally every street was like a parking lot.
I stayed on the sidewalk though
26 is turning into a literal disaster again. Hasn't moved for over an hour and behind every stuck car there's another 200 that can't handle the snow and will get stuck as well. Yeesh.
Fuck, I'm sorry. I went that way from Hillsboro around 2pm and it took me 90 minutes (at that point) to get to inner NE PDX. I can't even imagine how shitty it is now.
Bunch of lunatics here in NW alphabet district, saw one master of the road going uphill the wrong way up a one way street, peds walking blissfully down the middle of said one way street with their back to traffic and people driving downhill on very icy roads with ordinary tires no chains at 20+ mph, people preferring to block an intersection rather than let cross traffic merge, and a city bus with chains struggling for grip. In the last five minutes. Stay safe people!
What is with pedestrians walking in the middle of the road? Saw one lady, walking in the middle of the road, stop and take a photo with her phone. WTF?! Haven’t these people seen how Oregonians drive in the snow??? We don’t have road prep like the east coast and so many drivers don’t have practice in the snow.
I was coming down a hill at 8pm where multiple cars going uphill had been forced to stop, and one of the drivers was out of her car standing in the opposite lane... the lane I and a few other cars were *coming* *down* on. I had to honk at her *five times* to get her to step out of the way of my vehicle.
How someone who had to abandon their car in a pile of abandoned cars didn't comprehend that it was a bad idea to stand in front of moving cars coming *downhill* I will never understand.
Tigard to Creston-Kenilworth commute checking in -
Barbur - fucked
Naito - fucked
Ross Island Bridge - Moderately fucked but somehow the least terrible part of the drive
Powell - turbo-fucked
All in all a normally 30-40 minute commute home in afternoon traffic took 2:15.
As soon as we saw snow start to stick on the ground, my whole office packed and headed home at about 1:30. Very grateful that I was able to get home before the clusterfuck started.
I was driving my son to NE PCC for class at 1:30 and as soon as I saw the snow sticking, I just turned around and drove him home. I thought maybe I was being overly dramatic, but apparently it was the best decision ever!
I'm stuck at work with a boss that refuses to close (tried telling him that even Wal*Mart closed but it didn't convince him.)
Offered to pay for me to take a lyft home...I'm a bus commuter...how idiotic is that lyft ride going to be at 7PM in this?
Saw a guy park his car near the bus stop on my block, and the walk over to the bus station and wait. Guess he decided he'd rather take the bus than try to drive...
I’ve been listening to the Trimet dispatch scanner… nearly 200 buses are currently stranded with no ETA to rescue. So not much hope on the bus, either.
Oh, 100%. I have a work credit card so he's not getting out of the offer if I do opt for lyft. Wife and I joked I should just spring for the XL.
I guess my dilemma is take the extra long bus that's built like a tank, or take a gamble on a Californian not killing me driving in Portland snow.
Yeah hard to claim any sense of pride with Oregon driving either haha. 55 in the fast lane and never moving over to allow others to pass is as Oregonian as no sales tax
Damn I’m about to make a new square account and name it Lyft. I’d take $150 bucks to get somebody safely home 😂
I’m not crazy I’m just bored and I feel bad for you 😂
I was cat sitting for someone years ago when we got hit with a horrific snowstorm (I don’t remember what year it was). I was to visit every other day, and needed to get up to the west hills that day, or they’d be out of food. Owner was out of the country & I couldn’t get in touch. So my husband and I hired someone from Craigslist.
Risky, I know, but he was super nice. Had a great vehicle and chains, I think he just wanted an excuse to drive in it. Wouldn’t take more than $40. He was a lifesaver.
Idk why I haven’t thought of doing this, honestly. Back during my apprentice days I was an Uber driver, my car does fantastic in the snow and I learned how to drive in the snow. Maybe if I don’t work tomorrow I’ll chauffeur some people around like I did on Christmas weekend for shits and giggles lol. I wouldnt actually ask somebody to pay me $150 unless it’s their asshole boss 😂
Having poked around reddit a bit, I'm sticking with bus. Will use the boss' lyft offer to get an underling home who is closer, but my 8 mile trek back to St. John's will have to be bus.
'preciate the empathy, though!
I had an employer do this and Lyft wasn’t available when it came down to it and almost died. Only thing that saved me was a luxury ride Uber, which I forced them to pay for.
Just pulled em up to see what I missed by coming back to the east side early. Slow crawl heading eastbound but looks like we got some action heading uphill at the Jefferson exit
Took me an hour and 45 to drive what normally takes 10 minutes. Left work at 3 and didn’t get home until 4:45. The hill up glisan east of 82nd completely stopped, Halsey too, had to double back and go up stark to get home east of 205. Brutal.
I almost cried after doubling back towards stark. At that point I’d been in my car for 75 minutes and blocked going up glisan and Halsey. 82nd was packed and I had to illegally turn left onto Washington to get up the road. I thought I was gonna be trapped for another 75 min at that point. Luckily stark/Washington is pretty flat from 82-102 and was clear. I peed a lot once I got home hahah
> The hill up glisan east of 82nd completely stopped.
Ah god I couldn’t even imagine attempting to go up that hill in this weather.
My usual 20-25 min commute took me an hour and 15 minutes. Though I chose to avoid I-5 and 99E…by going over the Steel, through downtown on 3rd and then back over the Morrison.
Yeah it was crazy how fast it got bad. At 3 I thought I’d make it, but 20 minutes later all hell broke loose. I didn’t think by the time I got to glisan it’d be bad enough for that hill to get blocked. Some cars were stopped going east mid way up and then a ton of idiots tried to drive east around them in the opposite lane of traffic and they got stuck. That’s when I pulled a u and left, my mistake was going Halsey instead of stark. It was awful. I was supposed to be at home reading traffic drama, not living it!
I teach and PPS should have sent us home. Snow started sticking at 12 or so and the kids were batshit the entire day. So many kids got picked up early we were down to 10 the last hour and just ate candy and played in the snow. I booked it outta there when school got out, but not soon enough haha
Fremont bridge was nasty. Icy and windy. Trucks jack-knifing and cars losing control. Definitely thinking about taking the weatherman more seriously next time...
The weather models were [all over the place](https://twitter.com/MarkNelsenKPTV/status/1628292528905814016). The ECMWF model, which is typically more reliable than others, didn't start predicting a big snowstorm until 12 hours before it started. NWS Portland said 0-1" for most of the Portland metro, 3" in spots as of this morning.
Lol yeah, I'm from bend and was not expecting this shit. Most snow stuff was for ABOVE 500ft elevation at first. Even though it's still minor from what I grew up in, there was definitely not enough notice.
My wife is also a bus driver and is not happy that a lot of schools on her route did not end early. Such a mess. So many kids stranded without buses and stranded ON buses for HOURS and not being able to pee. The school and bus system here must be changed. No reason for this to happen to kids ever.
Mark Nelson (our regions guru on the level of Cliff Mass) accurately explained the uncertainty in the variety of models.
The tldr is this type of precip is hard to accurately predict totals but normally it falls as rain so we don’t care. Today it came down as snow which is why it was so much worse.
I read that blog post aloud to my 5th grade class at around 12:30, sending them into a huge tizzy. Worth it. I told them this morning if they got excited it wouldn’t happen…guess I was wrong hahah
I don't understand the collective amnesia in this city--especially PBOT, mayor's office, and PPS. When the forecast calls for possible snow at any time near commuting hours, just call it. But no, we can't risk pissing off our corporate overlords by suggesting folks not risk being stranded on the side of the freeway in freezing temps overnight. We prefer kids sitting on buses for hours, without food or bathrooms. Like, how many wrecks tonight? How many people injured? The risk of being overly cautious would have been well bloody worth it. Remember next time.
I work in a hospital. Every time it snows we get a threatening system wide email “you better come to work you assholes”. And like my job isn’t essential, I’m not a physician or a nurse or nurse assistant, but they swear it is. I work in rehab with PT/OT/SLP patients will live without us for a day. But they insist every single one of us show up, instead of having weather staffing where staff like me don’t come in. They even insist outpatient staff be at work, even though patients cancel their PT on snow days. But guess who always ends up “working from home” on these days? Management and administration.
Just got back from driving from North Tabor area to near the Moda Center and back. Took about 2.5 hours instead of the usual 30 min. Multiple crashes, gridlock on every semi-major street, every fucking intersection clogged with people "just going for it" despite there not being room, and even a Trimet bus stopped at an angle in the middle of the road. The irony that everyone was leaving work early "to beat the snow."
Managed to help push a few folks push their cars onward. Hope people can manage to find some joy despite the stress of the situation. Gave some snacks to a school bus of students who were begging for food. Now I am at a friends place waiting for them to get back. Today has been interesting to say the least
Yep 🙃 I had work at 11am and I watched the snowpocalypse unfold in front of me, every hour getting worse and worse. The moments of pause were mere breaths of relief and optimism before the flurries shattered all that was well.
It was a mistake taking my car honestly. I saw how bad traffic was and ultimately decided to leave my car in the street parking of downtown Portland and just take the max home (which took a whole hour with half that being spent in an AGONIZING tunnel). Hoping it clears up enough tomorrow so I can retrieve my car assuming it hasn't been towed or broken into 🥲
I’ve been in this mess for 5 and a half hours.
I want to go the f*** home.
* * Update * *
Got home around 2 am. Was trapped on the highway trying to get to 26…. Along with everyone else and their grandma. I hope y’all made it home safe. And didn’t total your car in the process.
It snows multiple times in a single 365-day period and suddenly every Portland driver thinks they're Yukon Cornelius. You know what drivers do on the east coast when it's coming down heavy? They stay home and wait for the plows.
Now, about those plows...
You’ll never guess what I ended up behind! I had a dream of a last leg heading south on mcloughlin! I was stuck driving a school bus east up columbia blvd*
and it was a welcome respite.
>*Stuck in a bus on columbia for 2 hours. TWO HOURS.
Glad my manager at the post office called me back in after it was clear that things were going downhill quickly. The last thing I want to be driving in this soup is an LLV.
I’m stuck on I-5 north, just before the freeway crosses up and over the river. For the last 15 minutes I have been watching one of our very limited snow plows get stuck behind idiot drivers. The operator has been forced to play traffic cop instead of plowing roads. People aren’t making a hole for him.
Was stuck on i5 southbound exit 307 for 45min. Only moved when a car in front gave up and went further south. Idk why people attempt to drive in this when they know they cant. Same with all those lifted 4x4's that go 5mph and hold up traffic so they can "play around" in the snow. Just go home.
I am now that I’m safe at home. On the road I just kept doing heavy breathing and telling myself “be patient, be patient, no one can do anything, just be patient.”
It took a long time for it to start on the westside, it stayed above freezing for most of this afternoon but it’s definitely starting to stick around now.
So glad to WFH. But even when I did work downtown, I left at the first flake. Even if it did not turn into anything at all, a single flak of snow freezes this city up.
I had to get my kid today from school and I got her early and traffic just started to get bad when I headed home. I saw a collision on my street and it caused a back up there. A resident was directing traffic while the tow truck was getting the pick up truck out of the flower bed that hit the tree there smashing the front end. Tree was okay. I saw other stalled cars there too blocking the entire lane.
>I'm glad I'm home sick so I don't have to deal with people this week
I'm currently unemployed, so I'm watching all of this chaos from my cozy apartment in NW Portland. ( I do have a job interview out in the Bethany area in Beaverton Friday afternoon. Hopefully, we'll be thawed out by then...)
Trying to figure out why the NWS didn't see all this moisture heading our way - but it looks like the same story as some of our other winter surprises: the system just stalls and dumps on us.
It blew up in the latest computer models this morning… but NWS still held that it wasn’t going to be bad. Mark Nelsen called it this morning and was the only one, saying it could be a repeat of the January 2017 surprise snowstorm.
My partner was on the road from 4:15 until 11:30 last night on what is usually a 30 minute drive. I was stuck at home with our two young kids.
She was slowing inching across an intersection when a hopped up camper van hand painted in mostly black and camo decided they didn’t want to wait their turn, and plowed through several cars to get across.
Luckily it was only like at 5 mph and with the snow there was a lot of sliding. He he kept ramming her and pushing to get by. The Prius wouldn’t start afterwards due to the door not being able to latch anymore. She was stranded out in the SW when we live in Gresham. No bus line, no tow trucks answering, cops openly mocking her situation.
Now I say all this, being angry and scared that this could even happen in Portland.
I want to add the important part though. That was one asshole. The number of people who came to her aid, to get plate numbers, to be witnesses with phone numbers, to help push her car off to the side, checking in to make sure she was okay, to the Uber driver who brought her home- it’s humbling and amazing.
The sheer number of people she saw out last night helping each other buoyed her spirits during a hard ordeal, in what could have been an even worse situation, but instead it became a testament to why we love Portland so much.
I'm late to this top post in the PDX sub, but just chiming in here to say that Fox 12's Mark Nelsen is the best metereologist in Portland and it's not close. He was literally the only weatherman in PDX that I saw beating the drums about this winter storm. I closely followed the coverage of KATU, KOIN, The Oregonian, and OPB. He was clearly the most accurate out of all 5. I see now why all the locals consider him the best. It's true. Mark Nelsen is a weather god. All hail. 🙌
The most dangerous part of driving in the snow here is usually the other inexperienced drivers around you, so an off time might not be so bad. That said, all depends on if it freezes overnight. If you do drive, go slow, let people honk, just be safe
Just under 2 hrs from downtown to multnomah village. waze sent me up Broadway to Paton. Lots of folks out there that should not be. But lots of folks helping push cars and giving updates on what is farther down the road. There are going to be a lot of cold people sleeping in cars tonight.
I got stuck on NE Sandy for like 3 hours to go a few miles through the Hollywood area…ended up just ditching my car and walked home and then ended up helping push three different pickup trucks stuck on NE Wistaria. Crazy out there, don’t remember anything this bad for a few years.
Tried to get to my gfs house to spend the night. 15 minute drive normally. I finally turned around 30 minutes later, less than 5 miles from where i started, when i saw a whole ass bus sideways blocking traffic in both directions.
I've always called this the red ring of death
Either way, I left my car in NW after moving a block in 30 minutes and walked home across the Broadway bridge. Pretty sure my walk was faster
I'm not from Portland (I'm in Seattle, right above y'all) but damn I can see the traffic disaster on the WSDOT traffic app. It's almost 2am and it's still looking terrible out there. Stay safe over there
AAAAAAAAAA update: AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Narrator voice: "Stay tuned for additional updates as the situation develops..."
This just in: AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH FUUUUUCKK!
GET DA SHOVEL NINJA IT GOIN DOWN OHHHHH SHIT
We come from the land of the ice and snow From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
Whenever I hear that song, I think of the Viking Kittens video. I'd like to think the guys in Zepplin would like that. Also, glad I don't commute. Be careful out there tomorrow!
/r/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
A fellow fan of /r/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I see
Just got home from walking to the grocery store. The drivers of Portland have lost their collective minds. Stay home if you can.
There have been no fewer than a dozen accidents on NE 41st where it curves down along Wistaria Dr./Cesar Chavez, multple cop SUVs out there trying to safely direct traffic through, it's a complete clown show.
I’m near 33rd and Fremont, absolute shitshow with 4 busses stuck unable to continue northbound. Edit: Atleast 6 busses stuck too lazy to walk down but it’s probably more than that.
Gonna just start blasting [Yakety Sax](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl0WIw8KOVc) on repeat on the outdoor speakers at this point.
Google maps is suggesting it as a viable route.... ffs
[удалено]
The moment I saw flurries I headed for Trader Joe’s. Looks like it was the right move
Got soup ingredients a few days ago. I feel like I summoned this weather.
You're good on kale?
Why? You got the hook up?
>I feel like I summoned this weather. Goddamnit, Leroy...
>Leroy At least I got chicken. (then I ate it for dinner...along with some kale).
Same. My wife just moments before we bolted to Walmart at Eastport Plaza... "Oh shit. We have to go now."
Then Walmart decided to close, forever.
So glad I used my Presidents Day weekend to hardcore fill the pantry.
I live on a busy main road and have already been hearing police sirens and the thuds of cars hitting things.
STOP BLOCKING THE FUCKING INTERSECTIONS YOU SELFISH FUCKING FUCKS!!!!!
Tbf it is very slippery out there. Good to be going slow.
Yeah, but not too slow. I live by a hill and I’m just sitting here watching people drive down the street at like 5 miles per hour only to get to the hill and fail to have enough momentum to get up it. Then the person who is behind them, also going five miles per hour, but for some reason only like two feet back from them, bumps their bumper. Portlanders always go straight to “drive slow” but what you REALLY want to do is make sure you have enough space between you and the next guy to stop if necessary and still have room for slipping.
I am now on hour 3 of being stuck in PDX waiting for my escape. I think I've been up for like 29 hours at this point considering how bad I am at sleeping on planes.
I’m so sorry!!
Your message came in just as we sat down in our ride. Now we just need to get fuel without getting stuck.
Good luck!!! I hope you got to use a bathroom at some point. I don’t know what everyone out there is going to do. Or how gas is going to last sitting in traffic that long.
Getting fuel was definitely a mess. The guy running the 7 Eleven gas station near the airport is a trooper though, I hope they give some sort of storm bonus (though I know that isn't likely).
Are you waiting for someone to come pick you up? Or something else? Asking because I'm about to fly into PDX...
Hope you don’t have to go far. I’ve heard i84 is shut down from multiple wrecks at least shutdown at i84 and i5
Thanks, but my flight In was canceled. So I'll be there tomorrow, hopefully. I hope you get out.
I left work at 4:45 heading north on i5. I live in downtown. I am **STILL** in the car, trying to get home. Update: still here... Hour 5 update: I've moved 1/4 mile in 2 hours. Hour 6 update: I'm at mile marker 298, I've officially averaged a mile an hour. People are trying to drive down the non existent shoulder. Final update: finally made it home. In the end total travel time was 7.5 hrs for what is typically a 15 minute commute. I'm glad I made it.
Sending you good vibes. It took me a little over 3 hours but I finally made it.
Thanks, it's taken me 4 hrs to get from 292 to briar place, and I'm still not out of it.
Still driving?
I feel your pain. Left my office at 4:30, still here at 8:45
1:50 to get from downtown to Hillsboro if you take 26, yikes
With the traffic I've seen out my window in Goose Hollow, that seems like an underestimate.
correct, times like this google maps is just like "fuck it, here's a time for you because i *must* give a route estimate. But actually lol good luck"
My boyfriend left work in Beaverton at 5:15pm and still isn’t home yet as of 8pm.
My husband came the same way. Left work at 4, finally called uncle at 8 pm as he'd just reached the tunnel downtown and we got word I84 was closed at I5 (we're in Gresham). We got him literally the last hotel room in the city. I know because every single hotel was booked up, and he sat in the lobby of the last one at 10 PM and waited until they had a cancelation. I hope yours is safe home.
I will pray for him. Worst time for this bs to start sticking for commuters.
It took my neighbor 4 hours to get from L.O. to Mt. Tabor… with 2 kids under 4
My friend was stuck in the Vista Ridge tunnel. Took her 4 hours to get from PSU to beaverton. There were cars stuck on both sides of the road for a few miles.
It is ROUGH out there. The snow certainly isn't helping, but the gridlock was the bigger problem for me. Please don't enter an intersection unless there is definitely room for you on the other side! Also, pedestrians--stop walking in the middle of the street. Nobody can control their car right now.
Walked 5 minutes to my local Safeway a couple hours ago and there were cars just sitting in intersections honking non-stop at each other. Glad I don't have to do any driving.
People certainly honk more now than they used to here
Walked across the Steel Bridge because trains weren't moving. Saw: - Abandoned school bus. - Abandoned car with chains partially put on. - Stuck, spinning out pickup truck - _All_ the streets backed up because of people trying to avoid traffic (HA!) - Wind in face getting sandblasted by icy snow. Had to use umbrella as a shield. Caught MAX at Rose Quarter though. More people than I've seen on a MAX train since 2019. But yeah, watching the traffic was unreal. Never so happy to be on foot.
I left my car at work in Beaverton and took the MAX back into the NW. a very pleasant ride
This is what I wish I fucking did. I left Beaverton at 4 pm and hope to be in Vancouver by bedtime.
Godspeed!
Seriously, I walked around my neighborhood (Goose Hollow) about an hour ago and literally every street was like a parking lot. I stayed on the sidewalk though
Did you see those transformers blowing?
26 is turning into a literal disaster again. Hasn't moved for over an hour and behind every stuck car there's another 200 that can't handle the snow and will get stuck as well. Yeesh.
Fuck, I'm sorry. I went that way from Hillsboro around 2pm and it took me 90 minutes (at that point) to get to inner NE PDX. I can't even imagine how shitty it is now.
AWAKEN AWAKEN TAKE THE LAND THAT MUST BE TAKEN
AWAKEN AWAKEN DEVOUR WORLDS, SMITE FORSAKEN
RISE UP FROM YOUR THOU-SAND YEAR-OLD SLEEP
You have all earned one banana sticker for the right lyrics.
Thank you Dr. Twinkletits
Those banana stickers need more zazz.
How about some zazz blammymatazz!!
Remember folks, if you get stuck in your car waiting for traffic in front of you, you need to provide updates every hour.
Bunch of lunatics here in NW alphabet district, saw one master of the road going uphill the wrong way up a one way street, peds walking blissfully down the middle of said one way street with their back to traffic and people driving downhill on very icy roads with ordinary tires no chains at 20+ mph, people preferring to block an intersection rather than let cross traffic merge, and a city bus with chains struggling for grip. In the last five minutes. Stay safe people!
What is with pedestrians walking in the middle of the road? Saw one lady, walking in the middle of the road, stop and take a photo with her phone. WTF?! Haven’t these people seen how Oregonians drive in the snow??? We don’t have road prep like the east coast and so many drivers don’t have practice in the snow.
I was coming down a hill at 8pm where multiple cars going uphill had been forced to stop, and one of the drivers was out of her car standing in the opposite lane... the lane I and a few other cars were *coming* *down* on. I had to honk at her *five times* to get her to step out of the way of my vehicle. How someone who had to abandon their car in a pile of abandoned cars didn't comprehend that it was a bad idea to stand in front of moving cars coming *downhill* I will never understand.
Tigard to Creston-Kenilworth commute checking in - Barbur - fucked Naito - fucked Ross Island Bridge - Moderately fucked but somehow the least terrible part of the drive Powell - turbo-fucked All in all a normally 30-40 minute commute home in afternoon traffic took 2:15.
I could have used this info four hours ago, lol
I had to walk 8 miles home…from inner SE to St Johns. I saw NO #4 or #44 buses the whole way. Oh well! I needed the exercise.
That is epic and you can roll that story out for every future snowstorm. What a relief it must have been to walk inside. Stay cozy!
I looked like the Abominable Snow Monster when I came in. My hot shower was fabulous and I'm eating soup so it's all good.
We have a friend that has been on the 44 since 3pm trying to get home to StJohns. 😭
Currently stuck all up in the traffic monster. I can now say I have built a snowman on I-5.
As soon as we saw snow start to stick on the ground, my whole office packed and headed home at about 1:30. Very grateful that I was able to get home before the clusterfuck started.
I was driving my son to NE PCC for class at 1:30 and as soon as I saw the snow sticking, I just turned around and drove him home. I thought maybe I was being overly dramatic, but apparently it was the best decision ever!
Did the same. Glad we did, cuz a Camry is not gonna do good in this.
I'm stuck at work with a boss that refuses to close (tried telling him that even Wal*Mart closed but it didn't convince him.) Offered to pay for me to take a lyft home...I'm a bus commuter...how idiotic is that lyft ride going to be at 7PM in this?
I would 1000% rather take a bus than a Lyft in this weather
Saw a guy park his car near the bus stop on my block, and the walk over to the bus station and wait. Guess he decided he'd rather take the bus than try to drive...
I’ve been listening to the Trimet dispatch scanner… nearly 200 buses are currently stranded with no ETA to rescue. So not much hope on the bus, either.
Yeah. Same, I think. But it's a much longer commute with the snow and if he's not closing tonight, he probably expects me back to open in the AM. 🙃
At this point I feel like walking is a better option than driving or taking a Lyft
Yup. On the bus now, and the automatic tire chains are working fan fucking tastic!
Most of the buses I saw were chugging right along, traffic permitting.
Please do it and send him the $150 bill.
Oh, 100%. I have a work credit card so he's not getting out of the offer if I do opt for lyft. Wife and I joked I should just spring for the XL. I guess my dilemma is take the extra long bus that's built like a tank, or take a gamble on a Californian not killing me driving in Portland snow.
50/50% chance on Californian or Oregonian.
Yeah hard to claim any sense of pride with Oregon driving either haha. 55 in the fast lane and never moving over to allow others to pass is as Oregonian as no sales tax
Take the Lyft, get injured, cash out on their insurance. PROFITS
I like the cut of your jib.
Damn I’m about to make a new square account and name it Lyft. I’d take $150 bucks to get somebody safely home 😂 I’m not crazy I’m just bored and I feel bad for you 😂
I was cat sitting for someone years ago when we got hit with a horrific snowstorm (I don’t remember what year it was). I was to visit every other day, and needed to get up to the west hills that day, or they’d be out of food. Owner was out of the country & I couldn’t get in touch. So my husband and I hired someone from Craigslist. Risky, I know, but he was super nice. Had a great vehicle and chains, I think he just wanted an excuse to drive in it. Wouldn’t take more than $40. He was a lifesaver.
Idk why I haven’t thought of doing this, honestly. Back during my apprentice days I was an Uber driver, my car does fantastic in the snow and I learned how to drive in the snow. Maybe if I don’t work tomorrow I’ll chauffeur some people around like I did on Christmas weekend for shits and giggles lol. I wouldnt actually ask somebody to pay me $150 unless it’s their asshole boss 😂
Having poked around reddit a bit, I'm sticking with bus. Will use the boss' lyft offer to get an underling home who is closer, but my 8 mile trek back to St. John's will have to be bus. 'preciate the empathy, though!
LMFAOOOO! Well I hope you have a safe trip home! Your boss is an ass. Even ours let us go home early because of the snow….
Thanks, friend! Agreed! When you tell someone that "even wal-mart is sending drones home early" and they don't bat an eye, it's pretty telling. 🤣
I had an employer do this and Lyft wasn’t available when it came down to it and almost died. Only thing that saved me was a luxury ride Uber, which I forced them to pay for.
I found one, thankfully. Seems to know his snow skills well. Bossman is tippin' graciously tonight! (He just doesn't know it.)
I can’t wait for the slow mo crash compilation on YouTube
Gotta love a good afternoon commute snowstorm! Time to dial up the traffic cams on 26…
Just drove down from Govy and Portland is *significantly* worse, this is nuts. Just a mess
Govy500 > PDX666
Just pulled em up to see what I missed by coming back to the east side early. Slow crawl heading eastbound but looks like we got some action heading uphill at the Jefferson exit
Took me an hour and 45 to drive what normally takes 10 minutes. Left work at 3 and didn’t get home until 4:45. The hill up glisan east of 82nd completely stopped, Halsey too, had to double back and go up stark to get home east of 205. Brutal.
What the actual F? That sounds horrible!
I almost cried after doubling back towards stark. At that point I’d been in my car for 75 minutes and blocked going up glisan and Halsey. 82nd was packed and I had to illegally turn left onto Washington to get up the road. I thought I was gonna be trapped for another 75 min at that point. Luckily stark/Washington is pretty flat from 82-102 and was clear. I peed a lot once I got home hahah
> The hill up glisan east of 82nd completely stopped. Ah god I couldn’t even imagine attempting to go up that hill in this weather. My usual 20-25 min commute took me an hour and 15 minutes. Though I chose to avoid I-5 and 99E…by going over the Steel, through downtown on 3rd and then back over the Morrison.
Yeah it was crazy how fast it got bad. At 3 I thought I’d make it, but 20 minutes later all hell broke loose. I didn’t think by the time I got to glisan it’d be bad enough for that hill to get blocked. Some cars were stopped going east mid way up and then a ton of idiots tried to drive east around them in the opposite lane of traffic and they got stuck. That’s when I pulled a u and left, my mistake was going Halsey instead of stark. It was awful. I was supposed to be at home reading traffic drama, not living it! I teach and PPS should have sent us home. Snow started sticking at 12 or so and the kids were batshit the entire day. So many kids got picked up early we were down to 10 the last hour and just ate candy and played in the snow. I booked it outta there when school got out, but not soon enough haha
I've moved about 1.1 miles after leaving work 3 hours ago. I've never seen traffic like this in my life.
I was pretty excited during my commute when rather than being in stop and go I was able to get up to 10 miles an hour. Felt like I was flying.
[He's dead, Jim.](https://i.imgur.com/GWLTo80.png)
Fremont bridge was nasty. Icy and windy. Trucks jack-knifing and cars losing control. Definitely thinking about taking the weatherman more seriously next time...
But did they even predict this much snow? I thought I saw just hours ago a 1/2 inch prediction
It's a grower
The weather models were [all over the place](https://twitter.com/MarkNelsenKPTV/status/1628292528905814016). The ECMWF model, which is typically more reliable than others, didn't start predicting a big snowstorm until 12 hours before it started. NWS Portland said 0-1" for most of the Portland metro, 3" in spots as of this morning.
Lol yeah, I'm from bend and was not expecting this shit. Most snow stuff was for ABOVE 500ft elevation at first. Even though it's still minor from what I grew up in, there was definitely not enough notice. My wife is also a bus driver and is not happy that a lot of schools on her route did not end early. Such a mess. So many kids stranded without buses and stranded ON buses for HOURS and not being able to pee. The school and bus system here must be changed. No reason for this to happen to kids ever.
Mark Nelson (our regions guru on the level of Cliff Mass) accurately explained the uncertainty in the variety of models. The tldr is this type of precip is hard to accurately predict totals but normally it falls as rain so we don’t care. Today it came down as snow which is why it was so much worse.
Mark’s blog post saying “if you can get out of work early today, you should seriously consider doing so” convinced me the apocalypse was at hand.
I read that blog post aloud to my 5th grade class at around 12:30, sending them into a huge tizzy. Worth it. I told them this morning if they got excited it wouldn’t happen…guess I was wrong hahah
I blew it off and didn't check (and have regrets), but yeah maybe I did so in part because reports weren't that bad?
Reports as of last night were a dusting to a half inch for most areas, with most predicting no accumulation just record low temps.
Nothing like having to book a hotel downtown after working a 12 hour day, because all the highways are at a complete standstill.
I don't understand the collective amnesia in this city--especially PBOT, mayor's office, and PPS. When the forecast calls for possible snow at any time near commuting hours, just call it. But no, we can't risk pissing off our corporate overlords by suggesting folks not risk being stranded on the side of the freeway in freezing temps overnight. We prefer kids sitting on buses for hours, without food or bathrooms. Like, how many wrecks tonight? How many people injured? The risk of being overly cautious would have been well bloody worth it. Remember next time.
I work in a hospital. Every time it snows we get a threatening system wide email “you better come to work you assholes”. And like my job isn’t essential, I’m not a physician or a nurse or nurse assistant, but they swear it is. I work in rehab with PT/OT/SLP patients will live without us for a day. But they insist every single one of us show up, instead of having weather staffing where staff like me don’t come in. They even insist outpatient staff be at work, even though patients cancel their PT on snow days. But guess who always ends up “working from home” on these days? Management and administration.
Left early to get a good parking spot on I5
Be safe out there. My street's not even bad and people are yelling at each other from their cars over shit no one has any control over.
Just got back from driving from North Tabor area to near the Moda Center and back. Took about 2.5 hours instead of the usual 30 min. Multiple crashes, gridlock on every semi-major street, every fucking intersection clogged with people "just going for it" despite there not being room, and even a Trimet bus stopped at an angle in the middle of the road. The irony that everyone was leaving work early "to beat the snow."
Managed to help push a few folks push their cars onward. Hope people can manage to find some joy despite the stress of the situation. Gave some snacks to a school bus of students who were begging for food. Now I am at a friends place waiting for them to get back. Today has been interesting to say the least
That’s super nice of you. Bet those kids were really grateful.
Yep 🙃 I had work at 11am and I watched the snowpocalypse unfold in front of me, every hour getting worse and worse. The moments of pause were mere breaths of relief and optimism before the flurries shattered all that was well. It was a mistake taking my car honestly. I saw how bad traffic was and ultimately decided to leave my car in the street parking of downtown Portland and just take the max home (which took a whole hour with half that being spent in an AGONIZING tunnel). Hoping it clears up enough tomorrow so I can retrieve my car assuming it hasn't been towed or broken into 🥲
Took me 2 hours to drive 4 miles. Not coming back out until spring.
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I'll tell your wife I love her, don't worry. Seriously though, get home safe.
I’ve been in this mess for 5 and a half hours. I want to go the f*** home. * * Update * * Got home around 2 am. Was trapped on the highway trying to get to 26…. Along with everyone else and their grandma. I hope y’all made it home safe. And didn’t total your car in the process.
Reporting from 50th and Hawthorne: just park your shit and bike home.
It got me :(
Anyone still stuck in it like me? Going on 8 hours on this bus. 😵
Watching this whole thing unfold on trip check, so thankful I’m not out in it. I feel bad for those who have to get home. Looks like a nightmare.
I got so lucky and left at noon to go home. Though my boss and I were both in the traffic mess in 2017 so there were terrified flashbacks all around.
My Gf has gone 10 miles in 6 hours. Just stay home!
It snows multiple times in a single 365-day period and suddenly every Portland driver thinks they're Yukon Cornelius. You know what drivers do on the east coast when it's coming down heavy? They stay home and wait for the plows. Now, about those plows...
You’ll never guess what I ended up behind! I had a dream of a last leg heading south on mcloughlin! I was stuck driving a school bus east up columbia blvd* and it was a welcome respite. >*Stuck in a bus on columbia for 2 hours. TWO HOURS.
I’ve been stuck on the Fremont bridge for 3 hours… it’s like the city did nothing to prepare for this. We’re parked on 2 inches of ice.
Glad my manager at the post office called me back in after it was clear that things were going downhill quickly. The last thing I want to be driving in this soup is an LLV.
I’m stuck on I-5 north, just before the freeway crosses up and over the river. For the last 15 minutes I have been watching one of our very limited snow plows get stuck behind idiot drivers. The operator has been forced to play traffic cop instead of plowing roads. People aren’t making a hole for him.
Was stuck on i5 southbound exit 307 for 45min. Only moved when a car in front gave up and went further south. Idk why people attempt to drive in this when they know they cant. Same with all those lifted 4x4's that go 5mph and hold up traffic so they can "play around" in the snow. Just go home.
One good thing I suppose…. A lot of men out here pushing cars for folks who are stuck. Thank you.
Okay…. Show of hands… how many of y’all peed in your car today. I’ll start *raises hand*
Angry potato smash!
Stupid angry almond
So how do the highways start moving again? Feel like i'll be here overnight.
ARE YOU NOT...ENTERTAINED?
I am now that I’m safe at home. On the road I just kept doing heavy breathing and telling myself “be patient, be patient, no one can do anything, just be patient.”
5 and a half hour bus ride from Laurelhurst to Saint Johns. Never again.
its the devils vagina someone named it that years ago here lol
Happens every snow storm 😂
I took I5 home and it took me an hour and a half. It usually takes 30 minutes.
Good luck y’all
Got backed into in a parking lot. I drive a Tacoma and they tried to run in their sedan. It went as good for them as you expect.
I can't believe I made it home from Hood River by 5pm leaving there at 330 pm. I dodged bullets
So I got ten inches of snow on the roof of my car, and drifts in my yard up to my knees. Still coming down.
It took a long time for it to start on the westside, it stayed above freezing for most of this afternoon but it’s definitely starting to stick around now.
Does anybody know what has caused the complete stoppage on I-5 North? I have been stuck just south of the bridge over the river for ~2 hours.
I'm also curious about this. I got on I-5 North around 5:45 or so from the Morrison Bridge and it was eerily empty.
Drove home from Vancouver to SW. 5 hours door to door. 5 goddam hours. Left at 315, got home 815.
So glad to WFH. But even when I did work downtown, I left at the first flake. Even if it did not turn into anything at all, a single flak of snow freezes this city up.
Been stuck on 84w trying to get on 205s for the last 2 hours
I had to get my kid today from school and I got her early and traffic just started to get bad when I headed home. I saw a collision on my street and it caused a back up there. A resident was directing traffic while the tow truck was getting the pick up truck out of the flower bed that hit the tree there smashing the front end. Tree was okay. I saw other stalled cars there too blocking the entire lane.
It's like the opening minutes of a zombie flick. Good luck out there!
My step dad is stuck there. Shits bad
I'm glad I'm home sick so I don't have to deal with people this week
>I'm glad I'm home sick so I don't have to deal with people this week I'm currently unemployed, so I'm watching all of this chaos from my cozy apartment in NW Portland. ( I do have a job interview out in the Bethany area in Beaverton Friday afternoon. Hopefully, we'll be thawed out by then...)
Eastbound Stark St. was a solid line of stopped cars from 60th to Caesar Chavez about an hour ago.
Trying to figure out why the NWS didn't see all this moisture heading our way - but it looks like the same story as some of our other winter surprises: the system just stalls and dumps on us.
It blew up in the latest computer models this morning… but NWS still held that it wasn’t going to be bad. Mark Nelsen called it this morning and was the only one, saying it could be a repeat of the January 2017 surprise snowstorm.
It took me four hours to get home from work. And my poor uber driver had to go back home to Vancouver after that!
It’s the traffic that never sleeps. Awakening from its slumber.
My partner was on the road from 4:15 until 11:30 last night on what is usually a 30 minute drive. I was stuck at home with our two young kids. She was slowing inching across an intersection when a hopped up camper van hand painted in mostly black and camo decided they didn’t want to wait their turn, and plowed through several cars to get across. Luckily it was only like at 5 mph and with the snow there was a lot of sliding. He he kept ramming her and pushing to get by. The Prius wouldn’t start afterwards due to the door not being able to latch anymore. She was stranded out in the SW when we live in Gresham. No bus line, no tow trucks answering, cops openly mocking her situation. Now I say all this, being angry and scared that this could even happen in Portland. I want to add the important part though. That was one asshole. The number of people who came to her aid, to get plate numbers, to be witnesses with phone numbers, to help push her car off to the side, checking in to make sure she was okay, to the Uber driver who brought her home- it’s humbling and amazing. The sheer number of people she saw out last night helping each other buoyed her spirits during a hard ordeal, in what could have been an even worse situation, but instead it became a testament to why we love Portland so much.
Rip every single Ash Wednesday service in the area
I'm late to this top post in the PDX sub, but just chiming in here to say that Fox 12's Mark Nelsen is the best metereologist in Portland and it's not close. He was literally the only weatherman in PDX that I saw beating the drums about this winter storm. I closely followed the coverage of KATU, KOIN, The Oregonian, and OPB. He was clearly the most accurate out of all 5. I see now why all the locals consider him the best. It's true. Mark Nelsen is a weather god. All hail. 🙌
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The most dangerous part of driving in the snow here is usually the other inexperienced drivers around you, so an off time might not be so bad. That said, all depends on if it freezes overnight. If you do drive, go slow, let people honk, just be safe
Left Hillsboro at 3:30pm and got home to Downtown Portland at 7:45pm
Just under 2 hrs from downtown to multnomah village. waze sent me up Broadway to Paton. Lots of folks out there that should not be. But lots of folks helping push cars and giving updates on what is farther down the road. There are going to be a lot of cold people sleeping in cars tonight.
I got stuck on NE Sandy for like 3 hours to go a few miles through the Hollywood area…ended up just ditching my car and walked home and then ended up helping push three different pickup trucks stuck on NE Wistaria. Crazy out there, don’t remember anything this bad for a few years.
It took me 5 plus hours to make what is normally a 30 minute commute home from work today. That was a little stressful.
I spent 7 hours trying to get over the I5 south bridge, I'm so glad I'm home
Tried to get to my gfs house to spend the night. 15 minute drive normally. I finally turned around 30 minutes later, less than 5 miles from where i started, when i saw a whole ass bus sideways blocking traffic in both directions.
I've always called this the red ring of death Either way, I left my car in NW after moving a block in 30 minutes and walked home across the Broadway bridge. Pretty sure my walk was faster
I'm not from Portland (I'm in Seattle, right above y'all) but damn I can see the traffic disaster on the WSDOT traffic app. It's almost 2am and it's still looking terrible out there. Stay safe over there