Last time I passed through Cape Foulweather on the Oregon coast, it was sunny, warm, and calm as I recall. Hailey went for a stroll with me to the lookout.
Not this time. The cape lived up to it’s name this time – and then some.
We reached the coast after a wet night in the parking lot of the air and space museums at McMinnville.
Once we hit the coast, the weather really started to pick up, or deteriorate, depending on your point of view.
The weather service was predicting some severe winds, and flooding from the rain, and they were correct.
My first choice of places to stop proved a bit exposed, and the rig was rocking so bad that I thought I might get dumped out of bed! Reluctantly, I relocated to a more sheltered spot on a little used roadside. The rig was no longer rocking, but the branches and cones were landing on the roof with regular crashes. In the morning, the forecast was at it’s worst, and winds of close to 100mph were predicted – on exposed headlands on the coast. Which is exactly what Cape Foulweather is! It was only a few miles drive to the shelter of Beverley Beach State Park, but one section is on a bridge completely exposed to the ocean winds, and I did not want to enter the campground directly off the bridge deck. So it seemed like the better decision just to stay put, and listen to all the reports of downed trees and power lines on the scanner – and there were lots of such reports. I put the rain gear on and went for a stroll up to the viewpoint. It took a few tries before I made it without being blown back. I made a video, but it was impossible to hold the camera close to still as I hung onto a plaque for stability.
News reports put the wind speed there at about 98mph!
Then I walked down the road along the coast for a ways, but most of the rain and ocean spray was being blown uphill by the winds. A culvert suspended in air was trying to drain toward the ocean, but most of the water was whipped back up the hill where it could collect and run down into the culvert again.
The forecast is still fairly poor for the next few days, so it might just make sense to head back inland ;-( and make a mile south.
Boy, you hit that right or what??? LOTS of bad weather there, heard 101 was even closed in places due to wind...
ReplyDeleteSorry you're there in the midst of that storm, but I do love the pictures and video! I love that area and practically have it memorized and have often wondered how it looks during some of the fierce winter storms! Now I know!!! I especially wonder about the glass in the visitor center. You'd think it would blow out!
ReplyDeleteHope you're safe and away by now! Saw some reports on the nightly news that it's bad further east too with snow! =/
What, & you can't fly your Chopper in hundred mile an hour winds....:))
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly that section of the Oregon coast has a busy winter season based on storms coming in from the Pacific. Nice to be there in high season eh!
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