1979 — Jan 9-10, Ice Storm, Portland, Multnomah County, OR — 5
–5 NCC, EDIS, NOAA, Asheville, NC. Storm Data. Vol. 21, No. 1, January 1979, p. 7.
–5 Taylor and Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes. 1999, p. 75.
Narrative Information
Jan 10/AP: “….a three-day ice storm in Oregon closed schools and offices in Portland froze traffic on the Columbia River and left thousands without electricity. Flashes from falling power lines lit the skies over Portland as the ice brought down trees. Water began rising in the city streets wit ice floes blocking the drains. Portland Power and Light Co. reported 15,000 homes were without power. Portland General Electric also reported numerous outages….” (Associated Press. “Storm freezes many activities in Portland.” Daily-News-Miner, Fairbanks, AK, 1-20-1979, p. 22.)
Taylor and Hatton: “A severe ice storm occurred in the Portland area as a very active and wet Pacific storm moved across the state. The highest temperature in the first ten days of the month at Portland Airport was 33°F, and lows were in the teens. The half-inch of rain that fell on the 9th and 10th mostly turned to ice. Five people died in the storm.” (Taylor and Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes. 1999, p. 75.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Storm freezes many activities in Portland.” Daily-News-Miner, Fairbanks, AK, 1-20-1979, p. 22. Accessed 702902018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fairbanks-daily-news-miner-jan-10-1979-p-20/
National Climatic Center, Environmental Data and Information Service, NOAA, Asheville, NC. Storm Data. Vol. 21, No. 1, January 1979, p. 7. Accessed 7-21-2018 at: https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-8BC0A3ED-2187-4C7F-BE98-52110FE6327B.pdf
Taylor, George H. and Raymond R. Hatton. Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes. Corvallis: Oregon Sate University Press, 1999.