Next Meeting: The Great Flood & Winter of 1861/62

DECEMBER AMS MEETING

When: Tuesday, December 3rd 2019. Social hour from 6-7:00pm, with the formal meeting beginning at 7:00pm.

Where: Stark Street Pizza – 9234 S.E. Stark Street in Portland. One block west of I-205 @ Stark

Driving Directions: https://tinyurl.com/y7yvm6co  

Topic / Title: “The Message, Meteorology & Myths of the Great Flood & Winter of 1861/62.”

Guest Speaker: Larry Schick, Seattle area TV Meteorologist, Atmospheric River Event Expert, Retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Meteorologist & More…

Details: The winter of 1861-62 produced extreme flooding and cold along the West Coast of the United States from Washington and Oregon to California – the likes we have never seen. The Willamette River and many other rivers in Oregon and California saw record-high flows, which remain their records peak to this day. The Columbia and Fraser rivers are frozen. Sacramento is underwater. A vast inland sea inundates California’s Central Valley. A steamer navigates an engorged Willamette falls. East of the Cascades, a thermometer explodes from the cold. This presentation will explore the nature of these storms and the extraordinary weather produced in an eight-week period. The intensity, extent, and concentration of the storms are unprecedented.  But what really makes this winter unique and could it happen again?