Wind gusts topped 60 to 70 mph from about Florence northward. A weather spotter near Netarts called numerous times in the middle of the night to inform us of 80 to 90 mph gusts. Similar icing from the second storm system on December 29th finished off tree limbs and power lines on the east side of Portland that hadn't already succumbed to the previous ice storm. High winds developed at the coast once again on December 31st with many reports of gusts to 60 to 70 mph were felt as far south as Gold Beach. Last year will go down in record books in many different ways.
Flooding tops the list, followed by record annual and monthly rainfall totals.
Portland rainfall of 63.56 inches slide into the second place position since record keeping began back in 1871. Tillamook set a new record of 122.73 inches for the year. Many other areas broke yearly and monthly rainfall records, also. While Oregon was feeling the effects of nature during the last few days of 1996, the rest of the Pacific Northwest was also hard hit. President Clinton declared numerous counties in California and Nevada as disaster areas after flooding caused millions in damage to property.