Snowy Oregon Coast Creates Eye-Popping Views But Dangerous Drives

Published 01/16/2012

(Oregon Coast) – Heading to the Oregon coast was no day at the beach Monday, but once you got there it was a very whitish day at the beach (above: Manzanita, courtesy Ocean Inn).

Sunday and Monday saw some terrible conditions in the coast range, with lane closures and accidents left and right along Highway 26 and other routes to the beach. Traction devices are now required on those highways to and from the coast.

The snowfall on the coast caught many by surprise, especially as that region – usually much more temperate than inland – saw much more snow than the Portland area or other cities like Eugene or Corvallis.

From Cannon Beach, Seaside, Oceanside down to Yachats and beyond, the images were striking. Thick snow piled up in impressive amounts around Yachats and the Ten Mile Creek area, as seen on the GoYachats.com Facebook page.

The Manzanita and Nehalem area were particularly blanketed, as seen on the FB page for local PR firm Rocky Intertidal CoCreative.

Just a bit inland on the bay, Nehalem looked like this in front of the office for Beach Break Vacation Rentals.

Manzanita had bundles of eye-popping snow, as seen by the cameras of the Ocean Inn, right on the beachfront.

Shorepine Rentals in Pacific City sent in this stunning image of Cape Kiwanda and Haystack Rock all dressed in white.

The Coho Oceantfront Lodge showed off this remarkable sight in Lincoln City, showing quite the white layer.

In Newport, the mound of dirt on the edge of the Yaquina Bay, where the new offices of NOAA are being constructed, was covered in snow. It caused some locals to joke about the possibility of snowboarding the big bump.

Also in the Lincoln City area, the beach in front of the Sea Gypsy condo looked like this. Owner Michele Franck was worried about hotel guests making to the coast and back.

Some huge winds are predicted later this week along the Oregon coast, to pick up where the snow has left off.

“Now we are battening down the hatches for surf and wind this week,” Franck said. “What next? The thing about beach weather: it's always a great show.”

Below: photo courtesy Ocean Inn.

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