Something Weird Has Happened in the Willamette Valley

Nonetheless, it's a wonderful time to visit the region.

The city of Salem, Oregon’s capital, sits directly in the center of the Willamette Valley, at the southern edge of the Valley’s prominent grape-growing areas. It’s a good location. We are near Interstate 5, making it easy to get up to Portland about an hour away. Easy access to the Coast and the mountains to the east. However, this time of year, those of us who live in this city as well as the rest of the Valley hunker down knowing we will have little access to sunshine and will instead muddle through grey, cloudy skies and lots and lots of moisture.

But something is wrong in the Willamette Valley. Something weird has happened here.

Today will be the 22nd day in a row that the sun has shone down upon me. It’s weird, unusual, and making people wonder what the hell is going on.

This streak is about to end with the prediction of five days of rain starting tomorrow, with the possibility of snow on the Valley floor on Sunday and Monday. Still, over the past week conversations with random people have turned eerie. You ask them, “How are you”, and they tend to respond by peering up into the blue, sunny Oregon sky and responding, “Um….Good, but hey, how bout this sun??”

And it’s a real question, not just an acknowledgment of the unusual weather. It’s as though everyone is looking for an explanation that will stave off the weirdness.

Even with this weird weather, I stick by what I’ve always said about the Willamette Valley: despite the normally frequent rain in the Willamette Valley between November and April, the dead of winter is an excellent time to visit the wineries here. Primarily it’s because there are so few crowds, the better hotels and Air B&Bs are available, and reservations at the Valley’s best restaurants are pretty easy to get. Equally important, there is a real beauty to the place in the winter.