Fall-like weather finally returns to the Pacific Northwest

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — It’s finally here.

After a long, hot, and dry summer, rain and fall-like weather finally made its way to the Pacific Northwest. The rain arrived last Friday afternoon and it also brought strong winds. A ring doorbell camera caught a tree toppling over in a Southeast Portland neighborhood early Saturday. Luckily no one was injured but it did remind neighbors in the area that the weather finally changed to align with the Fall season. Jeff Anderson lives in Milwaukie and said he is happy the rain is back, but he does have one complaint for mother nature.

“We could hardly wait but why does it have to rain on the weekend? The weekend!” Anderson said. “It’s typical rainy season for this area. Dry weekdays and a wet Saturday and Sunday.”

But in all seriousness, Anderson said he is glad the rain finally came to put wildfires our around the region, clean the smoke out of the air, and cool temperatures down. Phil Geffner, owner of Escape from New York Pizza on Northwest 23rd Avenue agrees.

“It took too long to get here, it was getting dangerous and it was getting smoky,” Geffner said. “It came just in the nick of time.”

Geffner said rainy days mean customers are coming in, looking for a warm slice of pizza.

“When it’s hot, they’re outside partying they want to eat,” Geffner said. “When it’s cold, they need some comfort food and want some nourishment. They need to warm up with some hot pizza.”

Next door to Anderson’s business is Ipnosi, a woman’s clothing store. Inside you can see signs of fall with sweaters, jackets, and flannels hanging on the racks. Owner, Tara Arban, said the rainy weather helps her business too.

“A lot more people come out and about, they’re going out for lunch, they’re going out for dinner,” Arban said. “They want to stop in and not get soaking wet so they have a pit in a store to get dry.”

She said the rain over the last few days has done wonders in cleaning up the smoky air that gripped much of the Pacific Northwest last week. With the rain finally returning, the Oregon Department of Forestry declared an end to its fire season. Welcoming new to firefighters who, up until last week, were dealing with a fire season that kept dragging into fall.

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