"Ice floes solidly clog the Columbia from shore to shore at the Interstate bridge for the first time in years," The Oregonian wrote in Jan. 1949. "Floe ice varies from two to six inches thick." (The Oregonian)

Seventy years ago this week the snow began to pile up in Portland.

"Portlanders floundered around in 5 inches of the fluffy whiteness," The Oregonian wrote.

Over the following days, the fluffiness turned hard and black. Stubbornly, it refused to melt.

From Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, 1949, the City of Roses endured a streak of 20 straight days of at least one inch of snow cover, according to Weather Channel records.

Portland averages two days each winter with at least one inch of snow on the ground.

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"Ice floes, frozen solidly together, filled the Columbia from shore to shore above Bonneville dam, stretching upriver as far as Cascade." (The Oregonian)

The freezing weather in 1949 became so severe during the long cold snap that the city felt compelled to dim its street lights in anticipation of a power shortage. The Oregonian reported that great clumps of ice were causing "the flow of the Columbia River to dwindle at Bonneville Dam," restricting the dam's ability to generate power.

Of course, Portland wasn't the only place in Oregon to get socked. Snow and ice blanketed much of the state, making roads and rivers impassable, clogging forests, essentially shutting down whole towns.

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"Snow at Crater Lake Lodge perched in the rim of the vast depression was 14 feet." (The Oregonian)

And of course humans weren't the only ones hit hard by the wintry surge. One small brown owl, for example, sought refuge from the freeze by making its way down a Portland house's chimney. Mrs. Frances Phibbs found the dazed owl resting on the piano in the parlor. Her husband caught it with his hat.

This, you might be thinking, was a once-in-a-lifetime snow event for Portland. That's certainly what Portlanders thought at the time. But the Weather Channel reports that the 20-day snow-cover streak was topped the very next year, when Oregon's largest city endured 29 straight days -- from Jan. 13 to Feb. 10, 1950 -- with at least an inch of snow cover.

Below are more images from the brutal Oregon freezes of 1949 and 1950, along with the original Oregonian photo captions.

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "The Bridge of the Gods arches gracefully above the solid waters of the river. Sightseers reported the Columbia River highway presented spectacles of beauty and drama seldom seen in the ordinary temperate climate."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "Poised in the current of the Columbia River at Big Eddy three miles above The Dalles and at the lower end of the Celilo Canal are these thick weighty chunks of ice that form a shore-to-shore bridge. A few daring, ice-hopping pedestrians were reported to have crossed the river here."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "C-R-UNCH! In this photo taken from the Interstate Bridge, Ol' Man Columbia keeps rolling along despite the freeze. Floating ice cakes have cut a sharp line down each side at the edge of solid shore ice."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "A prolonged low-temperature period has given Upper Klamath Lake the most solid pack of ice in years. This picture shows Oregon's largest body of water as it appears today from the north edge of Klamath Falls."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "The slow flow of the ice-choked Columbia River has allowed formation of thick ice directly below Bonneville Dam. Engineers said no such condition has existed since the dam was completed in 1937. Ice was formed when low flow prevented opening of spillways and aggravated the Northwest power shortage."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "A casualty of heavy snowfalls in the town of Timber was the Timber Community Church, which collapsed under the weight of snow. Other buildings have reportedly withstood this period during which the tiny railroad town [in Washington County] has seen four feet of packed snow."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "Portlanders noted the rare spectacle of ice on the Willamette River. Weather Bureau records show the rivers was frozen to a depth of four to seven inches in 1924, but never since. In 1932 there were ice blocks at the Morrison brigade and a thin layer of floating ice. Shore ice was reported in 1937, followed by a freezeover."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "If you think Portland has it bad look at this ice on the Columbia River at Covington Point, three miles east of The Dalles."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "Astoria's waterfront resembled an Alaskan port scene. Pictured is part of the fishing fleet at the Astoria mooring basin."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "RARE SIGHT ALONG COAST: A blanket of snow covers the town of Cannon Beach. Although Clatsop County gets plenty of moisture annually, it seldom sees snow."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "Heavy rains from a new storm in the series that has battered Portland since New Year's Day. Here water stands in the street at S.E. 92nd Ave. and Yamhill St."

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The Oregonian

The Oregonian: "Scorning such ordinary subjects as snowmen, Hazel Lengached and Bud Gill, students at the Portland Art Museum, fashioned this elegant mermaid in the S.W. Park Blocks near the museum. Right: Walter Von Allmen, Tigard, driver of a Fulton Park dairy truck, escaped injury when his truck skidded into the porch of a house at S.W. Fairmont and Chesapeake, and landed in the yard."

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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