North Dakota winter or Bend, OR winter?

[BendLocal]

In my experience this past year was on the sunny and warm side compared to the norm but it sure has been nice for a change!

[whirnot]

Originally Posted by AplikowskiTheMinnesotan

North Dakota is obviously colder. The only other places that get as cold as it are Alaska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wisconsin. I can see why Bend can get cold due to the chinook winds from the Cascades but it still does not have the same feel to it as when you're deep in-land.

You are correct that the weather in Bend is warmer, but as a side note, Chinook winds do not make a place colder, quite the opposite, a Chinook wind comes off the mountains and greatly warms as it flows. Chinook has sometimes been believed to be translated to mean "Snow Eater", and it melts snow fast.

The warmup they cause can be amazing.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

What you have seen this winter is not necessarily what you will see every winter. Some winters are warmer, some winters get a lot of snow. Some winters we get The Polar Express, some winters we don't. Some years, we get a lot of days of The Pineapple Express and some years we never see it.

I've seen winters that barely have any freezing nights and I've been in Bend when it was minus 50 for an entire week, and even the air was frozen.

There is no such thing as a typical Bend winter weather.

[BendLocal]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I've seen winters that barely have any freezing nights and I've been in Bend when it was minus 50 for an entire week, and even the air was frozen.

SSSSHHHH! That's supposed to be a secret.