Chris Pearce's Blog, page 13

How did Cleveland, Ohio get the nickname of Forest City?

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The city of Cleveland in the US state of Ohio has gathered a remarkable collection of nicknames over the years. Recent ones include Comeback City, the New American City, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Capital of the World, and the Mistake on the Lake. Older ones include the Cleve, the Metropolis of the Western Reserve, America’s North Coast, the Sixth City, and C-Town.

One of its earliest and more enduring nicknames is the Forest City. The origins of this name are shrouded somewhat in mystery, although there are some clues. It is thought that the inspiration behind this nickname came from comments by Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville back in the 1830s. He and Gustave de Beaumont were sent to the United States by the French Government in 1831 to study the prison system. During their nine months in the US, de Tocqueville took notes on various other aspects of American society, including the economy, the political system, and observations on general life. He published a work on the prison system in 1833, and also his two volume Democracy in America in 1835 which mainly looked at the democratic system of government in the US, and a novel based on his travels.

In his travel diary, Journey to America (1831-32), de Tocqueville describes his visit to Cleveland, then a town of about 1,500 people. His party approached Cleveland by boat on Lake Erie on 21 July 1831 at 6pm. He refers to the area as “generally quite flat and sometimes a few feet high, seems almost everywhere covered in primeval forest whose immense trees were reflected in the waters that bathed their roots.” He explains that the scenery gives the impression that there is nothing but thick forest, but that “one suddenly sees a church tower, elegant houses, fine villages, with an appearance of wealth and industry,” and that “one goes without transition from the wilds into a city street, from the most savage scenes to the most smiling pictures of civilized life.” He seems intrigued that he can find “French fashions and Palais Royal caricatures” in such an environment. With such a vast country to traverse in such a short time, he sailed from the town an hour later, at 7pm.

In Democracy in America, he marvels at the propensity of the pioneers to uproot from their comfortable life in Europe, cross the Atlantic and set up anew, and just when they seem to be finally settled, off they go again into the western wilderness to seek further opportunities and prosperity. He points out that most of the residents of Ohio and Cleveland were not born there but emigrated from the eastern cities. He mentions the “immense extent of uncultivated fields.” With these comments and those in his diary, de Tocqueville had vividly portrayed life in Cleveland, with its residents setting up a modern town in the forest. He didn’t actually call it Forest City. Indeed, it didn’t become a city until 1836. The name Forest City was coined later. By just whom it was thus named is subject to dispute.

Some sources believe Timothy Smead was the first to use the name in the late 1830s. He was editor of the city’s first newspaper, the Ohio City Argus, when the western bank of the Cuyahoga River was known as Ohio City, before it became part of Cleveland in 1854. He founded the newspaper with Lyman Hall in 1836 but it only lasted two years. He published various other newspapers and magazines until the mid 1850s, including an abolitionist weekly. Exactly when Smead supposedly referred to Cleveland as Forest City is unknown. It is mentioned in an obituary in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer newspaper on 4 January 1890, which states that “while in an editorial capacity Mr. Smead gave to Cleveland the name of Forest City.”

The more widely accepted originator of the nickname is William Case, who was Cleveland’s Horticultural Society secretary in the 1840s and mayor of the city in 1850-51. His many interests included natural history and horticultural experiments. He was a leading figure in setting up the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. In 1852, he embarked on a city-wide campaign to plant shade and fruit trees, following in his father’s footsteps, who had undertaken a similar operation in the 1820s. William Case is often regarded as establishing, or at least providing the inspiration for, the nickname of Forest City.

Regardless of the exact roles of Alexis de Tocqueville, Timothy Smead, and William Case in the naming of Cleveland as the Forest City, the name became popular with local businesses around the time Case was mayor. The earliest known business to use it was the Forest City Race Track in 1850. This was quickly followed by the Forest City Agricultural Warehouse, Forest City Bank, Forest City Bath House, Forest City Cricket Club, and Forest City Lyceum, in 1851. The name was adopted by the city’s leading baseball club in the late 1860s. The Forest City club of Cleveland played in the first major league game of the National Association in 1871.

Cleveland has always been keen to maintain its reputation as the Forest City. It established the Department of Forestry and Nurseries in 1897 as part of a new campaign to save trees. The city’s Work Projects department and Bureau of Horticulture planted over 13,000 trees in the city parks in the late 1930s. A tree census was conducted in 1940, when 221,198 trees were counted in the city plus another 100,000 in the parks. By 1994, the Forest City name was still used by about 30 firms in Greater Cleveland. There appears to be at least this number in 2009.

The influence of the Mormon Church in Mesa, Arizona

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Many colonies were established in the Arizona area by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or, colloquially, the Mormon Church in the second half of the 19th century. Mesa was first settled in 1878 when church leader Daniel Webster Jones led a group from Utah to establish a Mormon settlement at Lehi, now part of the northern suburbs of Mesa. Within months, another group of 85 church members, the First Mesa Company, moved to a mesa (or raised area) nearby where they repaired the canals abandoned by the Hohokam people more than 400 years earlier. A year later, a Second Mesa Company settled just to the east at a spot called Stringtown.

The influence of the Mormons in Mesa was significant from the start. They emphasised family and education, leading to strong community and education systems that still remain today. The first school was opened in 1879, along with many new shops and other businesses run by church members. Canals restored by the Mormons provided a reliable source of water, which was important to agricultural development and allowed growth in the area. The Mesa Canal was widened in 1895 and the flow was sufficient for a power plant to be built. Mesa City was registered in 1878. First mayor Andrew Findlay McDonald regulated saloons and guided the city in what he saw as the right direction. About half of the city’s 37 mayors have been Mormons, as well as many councilors and other leaders over the years.

A Mormon temple in Mesa was discussed as early as 1908, more than a decade before the Mesa Arizona Temple was announced in 1919. A 20 acre site was bought and dedicated in 1921. Church president Heber J. Grant conducted the groundbreaking ceremony in 1922. When finished in 1927, it was the third largest Mormon temple and the largest outside Utah. It became the centerpiece for the city’s Mormon community. As an indication of the strong presence and influence of the church at that time, 200,000 people took a tour through the temple.

In 1945, the Mesa Arizona Temple became the first to conduct ordinances in Spanish or any language other than English. Major renovations and an extension were undertaken in 1974. The temple had 250,000 visitors in 2004. Each year at Christmas, there is a display of 750,000 lights and a nativity scene. The Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant Jesus the Christ, conducted by the temple annually, attracts 150,000 people and lays claim to be the “largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world.”

The Mormon Church had missionaries working in the eastern United States from 1830 and missions from 1839. Since then, it has established missions all over the world. Despite the church’s presence in Arizona, the state had no mission for a long time and missionary work was carried out through the Home Missionary Program. It wasn’t until 1943 that the Navajo-Zuni Mission was formed to conduct church teachings to native Americans. It became the Arizona Phoenix Mission in 1984. The Arizona Mesa Mission was finally set up on 1 July 2002. It has 353 registered alumni, who must be returned missionaries, as well as 78 current missionaries and 67 “friends/members.” They promote mission reunions and one is scheduled for 18 September 2009.

In 1900, most of Mesa’s 700 residents were Mormons. Over the following four decades, the population increased tenfold as the Mormons and other whites, Indians, and Hispanics were joined by African Americans, Chinese, and Japanese, and the proportion of Mormons fell steadily. Since the mid 20th century, the city’s population has grown rapidly, and today only 10-15% of residents are Mormons. This hasn’t necessarily reduced the influence of the Mormon Church. The Mesa government is still dominated by church members and the city is “the most concentrated area of Mormon power and influence in the state,” according to the Mesa AZ Corruption Report.

The report suggests there is corruption among the city’s leaders and that getting ahead in business or commerce in Mesa often depends on having good relations with city officials. They also claim that legal action against the city, whatever the complaint, is unlikely to succeed or even get to trial stage, such is the influence of the church. A number of forums and blog sites indicate that young Mormon missionaries in Mesa can be a great source of annoyance and won’t take no for an answer.

The Mormon Church and its members still influence Mesa’s agriculture, government, and society today, as well as the progress and direction of the city. Getting involved in community activities, including education, youth affairs, politics, and business, has always been a church priority and members are encouraged to actively participate.

Australia: tax concessions on property investment

Tax concessions on investment properties have long been a subject of fierce debate here in Australia. Policies on negative gearing and capital gains concessions have arguably long been too generous, hurting the economy and the budget. The opposition Labor Party has come up with a policy to remove most of the concessions from existing housing. I’ve just posted the following comment to an article at two news sites: The Conversation and Business Spectator …

Well, I guess someone had to tackle the overly generous tax concessions on property investment and it’s finally happening. The current set of policies hurts both the budget and the economy.

The money investors pay in interest and to real estate agents, legal firms, insurance companies, and in repairs and maintenance is a tax deduction for investors, but if this money is spent by owner occupiers, it isn’t a deduction. Agents, insurers, repairers, etc. would still be paying tax just the same. Further, investors are probably on a higher marginal tax rate than the average agent, insurer, repairer, with a good sprinkling of investors probably at each of 32.5, 37 and 45 cents in the dollar. Repairers would be concentrated in the 32.5 cent bracket, others at 32.5 and 37. Companies (including banks) of course pay 30 cents in the dollar. Thus there is a significant adverse effect on the budget.

First home buyers have been priced out the market due to overly generous tax concessions for property investors and we now have among the highest housing prices in the world. Housing prices don’t really matter that much to investors when they know they can get all sorts of concessions, so they swamp the market, which pushes prices up, especially in the likes of Sydney. They are competing with potential owner occupiers who are priced out of the market and have to pay high rents indefinitely, meaning that they never get to the stage where they have paid off a mortgage and have a large increase in their disposable income for renovations, extensions, a new car, household goods, a holiday, etc. Thus the policies are no good for the economy.

But it’s a long term policy and might take 20 years to sort out. Property prices have risen eightfold and investment housing finance eightyfold in the last 30 years. Rent increases are 25% ahead of overall CPI increases over that time, which is a huge amount for struggling families to find. Meanwhile, middle income earners should be getting more money into superannuation rather than existing housing.

I was okay with a hike in the GST [goods and services tax] to 15%. In many countries, it’s around 20% or more. But it’s probably now off the table. An advantage of a consumption tax is that the amount collected fluctuates less than with an income tax (because consumption fluctuates less than income). Thus revenue is more stable during the ups and downs of the economic cycle. But with a GST increase, there’d have to be compensating decreases in income tax.

With revenue at 23% of GDP and expenditure at 26%, the government will need to do something on both sides of the ledger (other than bracket creep) that won’t unduly hit the poor, the sick, the old and the young.

It will be interesting to see what ‘facts’ those with vested interests in the current policies come up with.

History of Valentine’s Day

(originally published to Bubblews writing site, now gone)

Valentine’s Day is celebrated by many countries around the world on February 14. Couples celebrate by exchanging cards and gifts such as flowers, chocolate or jewelry and might go out for a romantic dinner.

Some sources say that Valentine’s Day has its origins in two Roman pagan festivals: Lupercalia and Juno Februata. Other sources deny this connection. Lupercalia honored Lupercus, the god of fertility and husbandry, and involved Luperci or male priests running around Rome dressed in loincloths of sacrificed goats and smeared with their blood, flogging women with februa or pieces of goat skin to make them more fertile. It was celebrated on February 15.

Juno Februata was the goddess of love, women and marriage. On February 14, the names of teenage girls went into a box. Each teenage boy would draw the name of a girl and the new couple were sexual partners at feasts and parties and for the rest of the year. Some sources, however, say the tradition of drawing names didn’t start until the Middle Ages.

It seems as though these traditions were carried on for centuries, before Pope Galasius in CE494 replaced the Juno Februata festival with the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, and in CE496 replaced Lupercalia with St Valentine’s Day and changed the date to February 14. The day would have been named after Valentine of Rome, a Christian martyr of this time whose skull is still exhibited there. However, there are different versions of what event replaced what and whether there is any connection to today’s Valentine’s Day.

There were at least a couple of other Christian martyrs called Valentine. One is Valentine of Terni who was buried on 14 February 273, and a third one mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia. They are all honored on February 14. Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome were both buried on Via Flaminia, Rome, and there is uncertainty as to whether they are two people or one. The Catholic Church recognises about 11 other saints called Valentine.

The first connection of Valentine’s Day with romance may be Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem in 1382, Parlement of Foules, when he wrote:

“For this was on seynt Volantyns day

Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make [chose his mate]”

The poem honors the engagement of King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia on 2 May 1381. Chaucer may have been referring to Valentine of Genoa whose day is 3 May, a more likely time for birds to be mating in England than February.

However, at least three other poems about birds mating on Valentine’s Day around this time were by Otton de Grandson, John Gower, and Pardo, a knight from Valencia. Chaucer may have got the idea from de Grandson, who died before Chaucer was born. Gower, a friend of Chaucer, was perhaps the first to mention romantic letter writing and gift giving on 14 February in Ballades in 1399-1400.

The earliest known valentine was a poem sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife from the Tower of London, where he was initially held after his capture at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He was held in various places for 24 years.

The first known valentine in English was by Margery Brewes to future husband John Paston in 1477. Shakespeare wrote about Valentine’s Day in Hamlet in 1600-1601, as did John Donne in his poem on the marriage of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, and Frederick V on 14 February 1613. “Mechanical valentines”, cards with sketches and verses already written, began to appear in the late 1700s. A book, The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, had ready-made verses that men could copy onto a card and send to their lover.

By the early 1800s, there were paper valentines and fancy valentines of lace and ribbon, and 60,000 valentine cards were sent through the mail in Britain in 1835. The US had embossed paper lace valentines by the late 1840s. The practice of sending cards on Valentine’s Day became more and more popular, with mass-produced cards replacing handwritten ones.

The practice of giving gifts on Valentine’s Day is generally more recent, although goes back to at least 1400 when Gower mentioned it. Gifts of hand carved wooden love spoons go back to at least 1667, in Wales, although these were not part of Valentine’s Day celebrations until much more recently. The first chocolates for this day were made by Richard Cadbury in the late 1800s. Gift giving was less common than card giving until after the mid 20th century, when flowers and chocolates became popular gifts. Jewelry became a popular gift in the 1980s.

In the US, valentine cards are no longer associated only with partners or lovers, but are also given to children and to teachers. Sending valentine cards electronically has also become popular in the last 10-15 years.

Valentine’s Day activities have spread to many non-Western countries in recent decades, although they have been banned in some Muslim countries due to Christianity connections and people arrested.

What’s in a cigarette?

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Want to stop smoking? Read this and you will. A cigarette is mainly made up of cured and finely cut tobacco, plus the paper it’s wrapped in, glue and usually a filter, but it contains a whole lot more and this is where the damage is done.

The main ingredient of cigarettes is a blend of three types of shredded tobacco leaf: flue-cured brightleaf, burley and oriental. The production process results in by-products including leaf stems, leaf pieces and tobacco dust. These can be added back into the blend with no noticeable change in quality. This results in tobacco by-products including reconstituted and blended leaf sheets and expanded stems. Ammonia is added to reconstituted leaf sheets, which is thought to make it a more effective deliverer of nicotine. Recycled tobacco offal is also sometimes added during the process.

One of the naturally forming chemicals found in the tobacco plant is nicotine, and of course no attempt is made to isolate it in the production process. Nicotine is a stimulant, promoting dependence. It passes through the body quickly and results in a person being more relaxed and alert. But nicotine causes havoc with dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain and the nicotine becomes highly addictive. Studies have shown it is more addictive than cocaine or heroin, although withdrawal is milder than heroin at least. Prolonged use of nicotine can cause all sorts of well-documented health problems.

Many other ingredients go into cigarettes. Various humectants, flavors and flavor enhancers are added to the tobacco mixture to make cigarettes more appealing. In 1994, the US Department of Health and Human Services found that the five major tobacco companies were adding a total of 599 chemical compounds during the production process, although not all at once. Interestingly, all these chemicals are approved as food additives and are used in food to preserve it or to improve its quality, while many are also used in cosmetics, fuels and various industrial processes.

These chemicals include some pleasant-sounding products such as apple juice, basil oil, chocolate, citric acid, coconut oil, coffee, guar gum, honey, menthol, mullein flowers, nutmeg powder, orange blossom water, prune juice, vanilla extract and vinegar. Even some of those with unpronounceable names are generally nothing more than innocent flavor or aroma enhancers.

But the list includes some nastier chemicals such as ammonia (a gas with a pungent odor), caffeine (which can paralyze and kill insects), levulinic acid (which increases nicotine delivery), heptanoic acid (which has a rancid odor), isobutanol (which can be a by-product of decaying organic matter), butanol (a primary alcohol), oleic acid (which comes from decaying insects) and skatole (which has a strong fecal odor).

One cigarette might contain more than 100 additives. A full list of the 599 additives can be found at http://www.tricountycessation.org/tobaccofacts/Cigarette-Ingredients.html.

The problem is not so much with most of the additives per se but what happens to many of them when they are ignited and smoke is produced. When these chemicals are burnt, their properties change and they can become dangerous substances. The 599 additives form more than 4,000 chemical compounds. At least 250 are harmful, including about 70 that can cause cancer. These carcinogens include acetaldehyde, arsenic, benzene, cadmium, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, lead and vinyl chloride. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer of sites directly exposed to the smoke, such as lungs, mouth and throat. Others enter the bloodstream and are taken to other parts of the body, which can result in cancer of the pancreas, kidneys, bladder and uterus.

A description of some of these carcinogens and other toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke follows:

– acetone is a solvent used in nail polisher remover and can irritate the lungs and cause cancer

– arsenic is used as rat poison and can irritate the lungs and cause abnormal heartbeat

– benzene is a solvent associated with leukemia

– cadmium can cause kidney damage

– carbon monoxide is the main gas in cigarette smoke and is the same gas emitted as exhaust fumes from motor vehicles. It can reduce oxygen (including to unborn babies) at a time when the heart needs more of it due to the stimulant effect of the nicotine, increasing the risk of a heart attack. It also causes cholesterol build-up, resulting in arteriosclerosis. Together with nicotine, carbon monoxide can cause peripheral vascular disease, leading to possible gangrene of the feet

– formaldehyde is used to preserve bodies and can cause cancer as well as gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin problems

– phenol is found in plastics and can cause kidney and liver damage, and reduce blood pressure

– tar is actually a mixture of hundreds of chemicals which goes into the lungs when inhaling; 70 percent stays there, promoting bronchitis and emphysema

– vinyl chloride can cause headache and dizziness, as well as hallucinations, unconsciousness, and respiratory failure.

The contents of a cigarette and its smoke are certainly a deadly mixture. Nicotine is one of the most addictive of substances. Many additives are included in the cigarette production process, but it is their alteration with heat that can cause so many diseases. If legislators had their time again, cigarettes would surely be added to the list of illegal drugs.

Geography of Mexico

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Mexico is a country in North America. To its north is the United States, while to the south-east are Belize and Guatemala. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west and south of the country. To the east are the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The country is quite large. With an area of about 760,000 square miles, it is the world’s eighth largest country. It is nearly three times larger than Texas and is a fifth of the size of the United States. It has a coastline of 5,800 miles.

The country is curve-shaped, from north-west to south-east. Its narrow point is the Tehuantepec isthmus in the south. The Yucatan Peninsula loops around from here to the north-east. At the opposite end of the country is the peninsula of Baja California. Much of the north is desert. Most of Mexico is a high plateau, with tall and rugged mountain ranges along its eastern and western sides. These give way to a coastal strip of lowlands on each side of the country. Mexico also includes several islands situated off its coast.

Let’s start in the north-west. Baja California is the long strip of land that runs from north-west to south-east on Mexico’s western side. This peninsula is nearly 800 miles in length and is the longest peninsula in the world. To its west is the Pacific Ocean and on the eastern side is the Gulf of California, or the Sea of Cortes. Most of the peninsula is mountainous or desert. The Peninsular Ranges run the length of Baja California. The highest mountain is Cerro de la Encantada rising over 10,000 feet above sea level. A series of three volcanoes, Tres Virgenes, lie about half way down the peninsula.

A third of Mexico is desert, dominating the northern part of the country. The Sonoran Desert is in the north-west. It covers large parts of Sonaro state on the eastern side of the Sea of Cortes, and Baja California, as well as parts of the US states of California and Arizona. This desert is the home of the famous saguaro cactus with its “arms” in the “stick ’em up” position. The Chihuahuan Desert covers much of the central north of the country and extends into the US states of New Mexico and Texas. It consists of many small mountain ranges and a few larger ones, with drainage basins lying between them. Altitude varies from about 2,000 to 5,500 feet.

Mexico has several large mountain ranges, apart from Baja California’s Peninsular Ranges. The Sierra Madre Occidental runs from the north-west for 3,000 miles down the western side of the country to the Rio Santiago River. At its northern end, this range is about 200 miles from the western coast. Further south, it comes within thirty miles of the coast. The range averages more than 7,000 feet in altitude, with the highest peaks around 10,000 feet. The Rio Santiago River marks its southern end.

From here, the Cordillera Neovolcanica range extends to the east across central southern Mexico. Volcanoes are a feature of this area. The 550 mile long Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, or Sierra Nevada, includes a number of active and dormant volcanoes as well as Mexico City, the country’s capital. The highest peak, Pico de Orizaba, is some 18,700 feet above sea level and is about 100 miles west of the city. This volcano is dormant but not extinct, with its last eruption in 1687. On a clear day it can be seen from ships near land in the Gulf of Mexico 80 miles away. It has a permanent cover of snow and glaciers, despite its location within the tropics.

On the eastern side of Mexico is the Sierra Madre Oriental range that starts near the Texan border at a place called the Big Bend and runs more than 800 miles to the south. It comes closer to the coast at its southern end, finishing at the Cofre de Perot peak in the Cordillera Neovolcanica range, 45 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to its east. The average height of the Sierra Madre Oriental is 7,000 feet, with peaks up to 10,000 feet, about the same as the Sierra Madre Occidental on the opposite side of the country.

Mountains also dominate Mexico’s south and south-east. The Sierra Madre del Sur runs along the southern coast from the western end of the Cordillera Neovolcanica to the Tehuantepec isthmus 700 miles to the east. Average elevation is around 6,500 feet. Inland from this range, the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca runs 200 miles south-east from Pico de Orizaba, and also finishes at the isthmus. Its average height is about 8,000 feet, with the highest peaks around 10,000 feet. East of the isthmus, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas extends 180 miles south-east along the coast to the Guatemala border. The highest peak in this range is the Volcan de Tacuma, rising more than 13,000 feet above sea level. Another range, to its north, runs 150 miles to the border.

The Mexican Plateau, or Mexican Altiplano, is situated between the two main sierra madres on the western and eastern sides of the country, and takes up most of the inland area in the northern and central parts. The plateau is mainly desert and shrubland. The northern section of the altiplano has an average altitude of about 3,500 feet, while the southern section is higher with an average height of 6,500 feet. A low range separates the two sections. The southern section contains many valleys that were once ancient lakes.

Mexico has about 150 rivers, with two-thirds of them emptying into the Pacific and a third into the Gulf or the Caribbean. Five rivers, all running into the Gulf, account for 52 per cent of water volume. But 60 per cent of Mexico’s population live in the northern and central parts which only have 10 per cent of the water. The country has the world’s longest underground river. Divers discovered a 95 mile waterway linking two cave systems on the Yucatan Peninsula in 2007.

Nearly all of Mexico sits on the North American Plate. Parts of Baja California are on the Pacific Plate and Cocos Plate. This means the country is seismologically very active as their motions relative to one another cause volcano activity and earthquakes. There have been several recent volcanic eruptions. El Chichon erupted in 1983 and Volcan de Colima in 1994, with others threatening to erupt from time to time. Paricutin in the north-west grew from a puff of smoke in 1943 to a 9,000 foot high volcano a decade later. An earthquake in 1985 measured 8.1 on the Richter scale and killed thousands of people, including 4,000 in Mexico City 200 miles away. Tsunamis can occur along the Pacific coast.

The Tropic of Cancer runs through the middle of Mexico. The north has hot summers and cool winters, with temperatures dropping to freezing point in the inland. Snow-capped mountains are a common sight. Coastal areas south of the tropic are hot and humid year round. Here, median temperatures only vary by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. May to October is the hottest period. Temperatures in areas with an altitude of 3,000 to 6,000 feet are milder. Higher altitudes are cooler still. Mexico City, at 7,500 feet, has a median temperature of 60 degrees. Summer temperatures range from the seventies by day to the fifties overnight, whereas the winter range can be from the sixties down to the forties.

Rainfall is low in the north, ranging from less than a foot a year in some of the desert areas to about two feet. Interestingly, the Sonoran Desert is sometimes called the world’s wettest desert. The northern altiplano region and the northern ends of the two major sierra madres can receive substantial snow. In the southern altiplano, rainfall averages around two to three feet a year. Coastal areas along the Gulf receive more than three feet. The wettest area is Tabasco state where average rainfall is six feet a year. Nearly all of Mexico has rainy and dry seasons. The summer months of June to October comprise the wet period. An exception is the extreme north-west of the country which has a wet winter.

The country is susceptible to hurricanes which can hit coastal areas on both sides of the country between June and November. The eastern coast gets the worst hurricanes and can expect several of these events a year. Wind can exceed 120 miles an hour causing widespread damage.

Forests and woodland cover a diminishing proportion of Mexico, making way for cattle and agriculture, especially in the south. Deforestation has caused considerable soil erosion, including 60 per cent of the northern and north-western areas. Fresh water is scarce and polluted in the north, and often inaccessible and of poor quality in central and southern areas. Rivers in city areas are polluted with sewage and industry by-products. Mexican governments have various programs in place to address these issues.

Mexico is a contrasting country with deserts, high mountains and plateaus, and coastal plains. Climate varies from hot and humid to cold and dry. The country lies in an earthquake and volcanic region, and is in the hurricane belt.

History of the Mexican flag

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The current Mexican flag was adopted by the country in 1968. It has three colours running vertically: green, white and red. In the middle of the white section is the nation’s coat of arms, featuring an eagle facing left with serpent in its mouth and right talon, standing on a cactus, with laurel and oak branches draped underneath it. The three colours have been used since Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821.

The flag’s emblem supposedly goes back to 1325 when the Aztecs were moving into the Mexican area and received a vision from one of their gods that they should build their main city where they saw an eagle with a serpent in its talon on a cactus on an island. They found this in Lake Anahuac, the current site of Mexico City.

Development of a national flag goes back to the War of Independence between Mexico and Spanish colonialists from 1810 to 1821. The first flag may have been the Virgin of Guadalupe standard carried by Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo at the Grito de Dolores, or Cry of Dolores, revolt in the town of that name, near Guanajuato, on 16 September 1810, the first day of the war. This flag was the initial symbol of the Mexican army during the war.

Several other flags were used in the war. A standard used by rebel leader and priest Jose Maria Morelos included an image of the Virgin with a white and blue insignia and an eagle wearing a crown, perched on a cactus over a bridge with three arches. The letters VVM, meaning “Viva la Virgen Maria” or “Long live the Virgin Mary”, were written on the standard. A flag used by the rebel army had white, blue and red vertical stripes.

The first use of the three colours of the current flag was by the Army of the Three Guarantees who carried the “Bandera de las Tres Garantias”, or the Flag of the Three Guarantees. After the end of the war, the army marched triumphantly into Mexico City with the flag on 27 September 1821. The colours on the flag ran diagonally, sloping upwards from left to right. At top left was a red triangle with a white star. In the middle was a thick green band with a red star. At bottom right was a white triangle with a green star.

A new Mexican government was established after the war ended in August 1821. One of its early tasks was to come up with a national flag. It chose a standard of the same three colours used in the Flag of the Three Guarantees, but instead of the colours running diagonally, they would run vertically, with green on the left, white in the middle, and red on the right. The colours had the same meanings as those used in the Three Guarantees flag: green for independence, i.e. from Spain; white for religion, i.e. the Roman Catholic religion; and red for union, i.e. union between the new Europeans and the native Americans. The coat of arms featured a crowned eagle, representing the empire, or the First Mexican Empire. The flag was decreed in November 1821 and used officially from July 1822. Use of this first national flag ceased when the empire was abolished in 1823.

The First Federal Republic of Mexico was established in 1823 and adopted a very similar flag in April of that year, the second national flag. The crown was removed from the eagle’s head and a serpent placed in its mouth and right talon. The laurel and oak branches were added at this time, and are still used today. The secularisation of the country followed the civil war, the War of Reform, from 1857 to 1861, and the meaning of the flag’s colours were changed by the victorious Benito Juarez government. Green now stood for hope, white represented unity, and red stood for the national heroes’ blood. The republic was dissolved in 1864 and the flag no longer used.

The Second Mexican Empire was set up in 1864 and adopted a third national flag. The new flag was lengthened slightly from a 4:7 ratio to a 1:2 ratio. An eagle was placed in each corner with a crown above its head. The coat of arms was similar to the French arms but with a Mexican influence. It had an eagle with serpent on a rock in water. This was inside an oval frame with a crown on top of it. Two griffins, with their eagle’s head and wings and lion’s body, were positioned on each side. But the leader of the second empire, Maximilian I, was overthrown. He was executed and the flag abandoned in 1867.

On the re-establishment of the Mexican Republic, the second national flag was used again from 1867 to 1881. A slight change was made to the coat of arms in that year. In 1899, there was another small change in the emblem, and the flag’s shape was altered to a 2:3 ratio. A 1916 design by Venustiano Carranza had the eagle with serpent still standing on a cactus but the bird took a more side-on stance compared with previous versions, and was used from 1917. Then, from 1934, the laurel and oak branches formed a circle around the rest of the coat of arms.

Mexico’s fourth and current national flag was adopted on 16 September 1968, the 158th anniversary of the Cry of Dolores revolt and the start of the country’s War of Independence. It also coincided with the Summer Olympic Games that were held in Mexico City in 1968. The new flag’s coat of arms was designed by Mexican artist Francisco Eppens Helguera, based on Carranza’s 1916 design.

The flag wasn’t confirmed by law until 24 February 1984. Debate followed about how the coat of arms should be shown on the flag, including on the reverse side. A change in the law was proposed to permit the eagle to face right on the back of the flag. Finally, in 1995, the law was altered to allow the eagle to face to the right, stand on its right leg, and hold the serpent in its left leg on the reverse side.

Meanings for the colours are not specified in the Flag Law. Thus meanings have sometimes been given to the flag’s colours other than those set down after the Reform War, such as green for hope, white for purity, and red for religion. Another version has green for independence, white for Catholicism, and red for union. Several political parties have used the colours in their own logo. Some states have used part or all of the national flag in their coat of arms.

Mexico’s flag has great historical significance to the country, being set in place immediately after the War of Independence and going through a number of changes with successive regimes. The fundamental design has stayed the same since Mexico’s victory in 1821.

Important archaeological sites in Mexico

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Mexico has a large number of archaeological sites. These date back to the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, and other ancient civilizations. Mexico has 27 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than any other country in the Americas. All of the more popular Mexican archaeological sites are included as heritage sites. Seven of the most important sites are discussed here.

Teotihuacan

Known as the city of the gods, Teotihuacan is twenty-five miles north-east of Mexico City. It is the most visited and one of the more accessible archaeological sites. The Teotihuacan Empire, stretching from Guatemala to Texas, thrived for well over 1,000 years from about 500 BCE to 650 CE. It was regarded as one of the most powerful civilizations in the world at that time. The city covered twelve square miles. Its population was over 200,000 people at its height, making it the largest city in the ancient Americas and one of the largest in the world.

Several large pyramids are a feature of Teotihuacan. The Pyramid of the Sun, or Piramide del Sol, was built in the first century CE. It is as impressive as any of the Egyptian pyramids. Its width at the base is just ten feet less than the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. It contains 2.5 million tons of stone and earth. That’s equal to the weight of about fifty large cruise ships. Or looking at it another way, 500 ten-ton trucks would have taken 500 trips each to the site with earth and stone.

The Pyramid of the Moon, or Piramide de la Luna, was probably built just after the construction of the Sun Pyramid. It is on higher ground and gives the best view of the city, including the Avenue of the Dead, the main street, with its ruins on both sides stretching for a mile across the valley towards distant mountains. At the other end of the avenue is the smaller Piramide de Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of the sky and creation. Bodies found during excavation at the pyramids were the victims of human and animal sacrifice. Enemies were probably brought to the city with the purpose of sacrificing them as it was thought the city would prosper as a result.

Images of Quetzalcoatl and the rain god Tlaloc adorn the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in the Citadel, the main political and religious centre of the city. Tens of thousands of murals in temples and other buildings are thought to rival anything in Europe at the time. The murals indicate a society interested and knowledgeable in astronomy. This contrasts with murals found elsewhere in Mexico, which often show violence and sacrifice. Artifacts found at the Teotihuacan site suggest the city had many craftsmen, potters, and jewelers. No writings have been found at the site.

It is unclear who built the city. The Totonacs claim to have built it, although there are Zapotec, Mixtec, and Mayan influences. The city was traditionally thought to have been sacked and burned around 650 CE. But the burning may have been restricted to buildings of the upper class, particularly along the Avenue of the Dead, and may have been due to a civil uprising rather than an invasion. The unrest may have been brought on by drought around 535 CE, as archeologists unearthed a larger number of skeletons of children suffering malnutrition dating to the sixth century.

After its fall, squatters lived there. Later the Aztecs used it as a place of pilgrimage. Excavation started in the 19th century, with major restoration carried out from the early 20th century. In 1971, when a sound and light show was being set up, a cave was discovered under the Pyramid of the Sun. It was first thought to be a natural cave in the shape of a clover leaf, but it is now believed to be man-made.

Palenque

An excellent and popular example of an archeological site of the Mayan period is Palenque. The place is on the Yucatan Peninsula and thrived from around the first to the eighth century. To date, only a small fraction of the city has been excavated. It has a number of fascinating buildings. The Palace is a complex of connected structures including a four-story tower. Many excellent sculptures and carvings are found there.

The Temple of Inscriptions contains the second longest Mayan glyphic text. The temple records about 200 years of the city’s history. Alberto Lhuillier found a passage and stairway to Mayan king Pakal’s tomb in 1952. The tomb has a carved sarcophagus, rich ornaments, stucco sculpture, and a unique psychoduct that may relate to the soul’s departure. The temples of the Cross, the Sun, and the Foliated Cross are set on top of step pyramids. The inner chamber of each temple contains two figures giving objects to an icon. Both figures are thought to represent Mayan king Kan B’ahlam.

Another interesting structure is the Aquaduct with its ten foot high vault allowing the Otulum River to flow under the main plaza area of Palenque. Other structures include the Temple of the Lion about 200 yards from the other temples, the Structure XII with its God of Death carving, and the Temple of the Count. The site also includes lavish residences, a stone bridge over the river, and a court for the sport of Mesoamerican ballgame. The rules are lost, but judging from the long narrow alley and side walls, a game similar to squash, royal tennis, or volleyball could have been played there.

The city’s decline coincided with a long drought. It was abandoned around 900 CE and left to the forest. It was uninhabited when the Spaniards first came to Mexico. A priest, Ramon de Ordonez, found out about this ancient city from the Indians in 1773. He called it the most beautiful ruins in the country. It is said to produce more affection from visitors than any other ruins. Easiest access is from the modern city of Palenque about 85 miles away.

Monte Alban

This site is six miles outside the Oaxaca city limits in southern Mexico, just west of the Tehuantepec Isthmus. It is regarded as a construction feat of monumental proportions. The city was built on a mountain rising 5,000 feet above the three surrounding valleys after the top was sheered off to create a flat base. It was probably constructed by the Zapotecans from around 500 BCE, soon after they moved into the region that was already inhabited, probably by the Olmecs.

The city includes a network of rooms, underground passages, water storages, and drainage works. Terraces were cut into surrounding hillsides and crops planted. Peaks of prosperity for the city were around the first centuries BCE and CE, and the seventh and eighth centuries. Up to 35,000 people lived in the city. Difficult periods were around 200 CE and 800 CE. The reasons are not known for the declines but drought could have played a role. The second decline led to the city’s abandonment. The Mixtecs occupied it in the 13th century and left many tombs including Tomb 7 with its gold and other treasure.

Few of the original Monte Alban structures remain. The oldest is perhaps the Gallery of the Dancers, or Danzantes, with its glyphs of naked warriors, captives, dwarfs, childbirth, ejaculation, sick people, and the contorted figures of dead people that look like dancers. These are thought to be of Olmec origin.

Chichen Itza

The second most visited archaeological site in Mexico after Teotihuacan is Chichen Itza. It is located in the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula and a two hour drive from Cancun. The Castillo pyramid at this site is sometimes regarded as the most popular icon in Mexico. It has 365 steps for the solar year, 18 terraces for the Mayan calendar’s months, and 52 panels for the Mayan century. Underneath this pyramid, another one was found with a temple chamber containing a statue and a jaguar-shaped throne painted red with inlaid jade as spots.

The Temple of the Warriors is a stepped pyramid with rows of carved columns of warriors at the front and each side. El Caracol is a circular building with a spiral staircase of stone inside. The doors were aligned to see the equinox. Shadows inside cast by the sun on the doorway were used to determine the timing of the solstices. Other structures include the House of Mysterious Writing, or Akab Dzib, the Nunnery, or Las Monjas, which was a government palace, as well as the Red House and the House of the Deer.

Chichen Itza has the largest ballcourt yet found. It measures 540 feet by 230 feet, with walls forty feet high. Teams of ball players are depicted in sculpted panels on benches. About two miles away from the site are the Caves of Balankanche with their undisturbed idols and pottery. The city was prominent by about 600 CE. It was burned in a civil war around 1000 CE but was never abandoned altogether.

Uxmal

This site is fifty miles to the south of Merida in western Yucatan and is one of Mexico’s more spectacular archaeological sites. The city was probably built between 500 and 1100 CE and was home to about 25,000 people. It was abandoned in the late 1500s.

The city is well built, with buildings using stone set in concrete rather than plaster. It was in fine condition before excavation and restoration began. The visitor gets a good idea of what the city looked like in ancient times. For beauty and elegance, it is considered second only to the Palenque site. The Governor’s Palace, which has the longest facades in ancient Mesoamerica, was built on a large platform. The palace was never used as a residence but as a base for astronomers to calculate the times for planting as well as feasts and other celebrations.

The Pyramid of the Magician, or the Adivino, is a pyramid temple with oval layers, which is unusual as layers elsewhere are square or rectangular. It is actually five pyramids, each one built over the top of the old one. There are also several quadrangles featuring long buildings with elaborate facades, such as the Nunnery Quadrangle. Various other buildings include the Grand Pyramid, the South Temple, the House of the Birds, and the House of the Turtles. A ballcourt was dedicated by ruler Chan Chak K’ak’nal Ajaw in 901.

Tulum

Located eighty miles south of Cancun, Tulum is a Mayan site and more accessible than many other sites. It was built on a forty foot cliff overlooking the Caribbean and is regarded as extremely beautiful. It is a walled city to keep invaders out and served as a port to Coba, another ancient Mayan city. Numerous murals show the Descending or Diving God. The earliest know building at the site was in 564 CE. Most structures date to the 13th and 14th centuries. The city’s prosperous period was around 1000 to 1550 CE. It was abandoned in the late 16th century.

The city has a white wall with bright red and blue reliefs. Its fortifications initially prevented the Spaniards from invading it. The wall is 3,600 feet in length with guard towers of stone, and runs along three sides of the city, the fourth side being the cliff. It includes a palace, temples, and other buildings. The lavish decor suggests the site was associated with power and wealth. It was thought to be a playground for the rich. Its proximity to population centers and its beauty make it one of the more popular ruins in Mexico.

Tenochtitlan

This is another popular archaeological site. Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztecs and is now Mexico City. The city was founded in 1325 CE on an island in Lake Texcoco. When Cortes arrived in 1521, it was the largest of the Mesoamerican cities with a population of some 200,000 people. At the time of the last ruler, Motecuhzoma II, the palace had numerous rooms, armories, sweat baths, music rooms, guest rooms, kitchens, horticultural gardens, game preserves, and a main courtyard of 600 feet square. Remains can be seen in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.

Excavation and restoration continues at these and other archaeological sites in Mexico. They are an important part of the country’s tourism industry. Mexico was the world’s seventh largest tourist destination in 2005, and the only Latin American country in the top 25 places. The main attractions are the magnificent ancient ruins.

History of Mexican food

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Before the introduction of agriculture, the diets of the indigenous people of Mexico consisted mainly of various animals caught by hunters, as well as fish. They gathered several wild plants to supplement their meat. For example, mesquite trees and shrubs produced bean-like pods rich in sugar. Nopal was a fruit from cactus plants. Maguey plants contained a sweet liquid known as agua miel, or honey water. Also, maize grew wild in many parts. By about 7000 BCE, most large mammals in Mexico were extinct, and plant food became an increasingly important part of the diet.

Agriculture introduced new food types into people’s diets. They grew maize, beans, tomatoes, squash, chillies, amaranth and cactus, as well as fruit such as guava and avocado. Reptiles and small mammals continued to be hunted. In many areas, insects, larvae and grubs were common foods. Maize soon became the main food throughout the highlands and was supplemented with beans. This combination provided indigenous people with a nutritious diet as these foods together produce amino acids. The maize kernels were soaked in lime, which releases niacin and provides calcium.

As maize was a staple, it was prepared for consumption in many ways, adding variety to what was eaten. Before agriculture, wild maize was eaten raw or roasted on a fire. Later it was grounded and added to water, making a gruel called atole, pinole or pozole. Maize was also made into a dough, or masa, which was then used to make various foods. For example, maize could be made into thin cakes, or tortillas, and dumplings, or tamales. Other maize meals included pellizcadas, peneques, sopes and tostadas. They also made popcorn from maize.

Other common foods at this time were pumpkin, squash and zucchini. The whole plant was consumed. The vegetable itself was boiled, while the stems went into a soup, and the flowers also went into soups as well as in stews and quesadillas. An algae called tecuitatl was obtained from lakes in the valleys. Animal foods continued to supplement maize and other plant food. The indigenous people domesticated turkeys, rabbits and hairless dogs for consumption. They still hunted small game, including reptiles and amphibians as well as birds, fish and insects.

The food of the Mayan people was quite diverse. Plants including chaya and ramon were eaten with maize. The ramon tree produced seeds with high protein content. A number of root crops were consumed, such as camotes, jicamas, malanga and yuca. In coastal and river areas, people also ate large amounts of fish and shellfish. The Mexicans were the first people to make chocolate. A chocolate drink was produced from the seeds of the cacao tree as early as 1100 BCE, and was popular across Mexico with the Maya and later the Aztecs. They called it xocolatl, meaning bitter water. A study estimated that the people in the central Mexico area consumed somewhere between 1,400 and 2,600 calories a day, comparable to modern times.

It is thought that the Aztecs too had an adequate diet with plenty of protein. They used terracing, irrigation and fertilizer, and created artificial islands, or chinampas, which gave them up to four harvests each year. They learned to plant certain crops together, such as maize and beans, increasing yields. A high protein meal was maize made as a masa, with beans. They ate chillies and tomatoes, both rich in vitamin C, and wild herbs, or quelites, full of vitamin A. Sauces were made using chillies. They fermented the juice of the maguey plant to make pulque and corn to produce pozol, both alcoholic drinks.

Food eaten in Mexico underwent considerable change with the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. They brought their own food supplies with them and quickly introduced wheat, which was suited to the soil and climate, and was soon grown in vast quantities across the plains and valleys. By the 18th century, 40 million pounds of bread a year were consumed in Mexico City. Other grains such as rice as well as barley, rye and sugarcane were planted in various regions. Indigenous people were eating large amounts of rice by the 17th century, along with their maize, and sometimes instead of maize.

The Spaniards also introduced their animals into Mexico. Pigs were popular, as were sheep. At the end of the 16th century, an estimated one million sheep were grazing throughout the country. Cattle also took over vast regions. Meat from introduced animals became a staple of both the newcomers and the indigenous population. Other foods were introduced by the Spaniards and these too were eaten by the Indians. These included vegetables such as carrots, eggplant, garlic, lentils, onions and turnips, and fruit such as cherries, figs, grapefruit, lemons, limes, melons, oranges and peaches.

Local people often had no choice but to eat the new foods as land and resources previously used to produce their traditional foods were now used for the new foods, both animal and crop. This situation varied between regions. In the more remote areas, traditional foods remained more abundant. Some native Mexicans were still eating an almost exclusive vegetarian diet. However, virtually all of them were eating at least some introduced foods by the late 16th century. For a large number of people, the new foods virtually replaced their traditional foods.

The Conquest resulted in combinations of foods from the Old and New Worlds in the one dish. Mole poblano is a traditional chocolate-based sauce with chillies and nuts. The Spaniards added onion, garlic, cinnamon and nutmeg to it. The Mexicans had it with turkey while the Europeans ate it with chicken. Chiles en nogada is a dish that uses chillies and walnuts from Mexico with meat and fruit from either Europe or Mexico. Indigenous people became used to the fat of introduced animals and soon invented dishes using this fat. These included frijoles, gorditas, quesadillas and refritos. Mesoamerican foods such as carnitas, tacos, tamales and tortas were soon made from European foods, including bread, animal fat, cheese, onion and garlic.

This mixture of cuisines continued after Mexico’s independence in the early 19th century. There were plenty of regional variations in what people ate, which depended on availability and prices. The price of foods such as maize, beans and rice rose sharply in the late 19th century in many areas. Consumption of these foods declined, especially among the poor. Commercialization and industrialization of food production was increasingly impacting on what foods people ate. Commercial decisions, for example, meant more cattle, sugar and coffee. When maize flour was made in a mill, consumption of tortillas increased substantially as people no longer had to spent hours making them by hand and because they became cheaper.

In recent times, traditional foods such as beans, squash, avocadoes and chillies have been combined with introduced foods such as beef, pork, rice and lettuce. Morisqueta, or boiled rice with sea salt, was introduced into the diets of rural Mexicans in the late 1940s by Japanese refugees from World War II. A dish that is often considered to be Mexico’s national dish is mole de guajolote, or turkey with one of several sauces generically called mole. It is often served at traditional weddings. Mexican chocolate, which consists of cacao, sugar, cinnamon and sometimes nuts, is a favorite.

Fast foods have increasingly appeared in Mexico. Hamburger and hot dog stands, pizza parlors and Chinese restaurants are everywhere. These foods often become “Mexicanized”. For example, chillies and traditional sauces are available in hamburger eateries, while pizzas can include mole and green chilli. The Taco Bell chain operates in a number of countries, offering a menu that is based on New World food but with the Old World additions such as beef and cheese. Cola drinks too are now consumed throughout the country.

Mexican food has gone through many changes over the millennia. Meat dominated before the introduction of agriculture. Maize then became the main food, supplemented by small game and certain vegetables. The Mayans and the Aztecs ate a varied diet but mainly plant food rather than animal food. The coming of the Spaniards resulted in a mixture of traditional and European foods, something that has continued to the present day. Industrialization and commercialization have had a large impact on the food eaten. More recently, fast food has been a major influence.

The climate of Portland, Oregon

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone) 

The city of Portland, Oregon has a marine west coast climate with a relatively narrow annual temperature range and rain through the year. Similar climates are found in the United Kingdom, much of Europe, along much of the western coast and some of the eastern coast of South America, southeast Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the northwest US coast. 

Portland is 20-50 feet above sea level in the Willamette River valley, 65 miles from the Pacific Ocean, between the Coastal Range to the city’s east and the higher Cascades Range to its west. Rainfall averages about 40 inches a year, similar to most US east coast cities, and less than the 60-80 inch average for west coast cities and the 180-200 inches for the Coastal Range. Rain is usually light or moderate rather than heavy and residents often call it Portland mist. The rain pattern keeps things green all year and is ideal for gardeners and vegetable and fruit growing. 

The Cascades push moisture-laden westerlies upwards resulting in much of the area’s rain. Most of the rain falls in winter, with close to 90 per cent of it falling in the seven months from mid October to mid May. The months of July and August are the driest, each averaging less than an inch. Nevertheless, heavy rain can occur in summer. In 1948, Vanport just north of Portland was flooded and the Columbia River swollen for 40 days in the worst floods since 1894. Rainfall varies across the metropolitan area. The elevated West Hills region averages 60 inches, whereas 10 miles away, the airport to the north-east of the city next to the Columbia River gets 36 inches.  

Most of the precipitation is rain. Measurable snow falls on about four days a year. Snow accumulation of over two inches is rare and usually melts in less than a day. Snow is more likely in the West Hills area and also at Troutdale east of the airport on the Columbia River. Record snowfall for Portland was 61 inches in the winter of 1892-93. The 2008-09 winter had the third highest snow reading on record with 24 inches. 

Winters are cool to cold with cloudy skies. Winds are usually southerly during milder, rainy periods and easterly in colder dry times. Extreme cold is rare. The Cascade Ranges usually prevent the cold inland air masses originating in the Arctic from reaching Portland. However, occasional Arctic winds find their way over the Cascades resulting in cold blustery conditions. Slightly warmer winds find their way to Portland via the Columbia River Gorge canyon east of the city. At other times, cold air flows out along the canyon. 

When easterly winds coincide with rain, a layer of below freezing air forms along the Columbia River, resulting in snow in the eastern and northern parts of the city. Easterlies often bring subfreezing temperatures to Portland in winter. On average, daytime temperatures reach about mid 40s to low 50s Fahrenheit in the winter, falling to the 30s overnight. Temperatures can fall below freezing between early November and late March. Frosts can occur from late October to late April. The record low temperature was minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit (or minus 19 degrees Celsius) on 2 February 1950. 

Spring is cool and can be fairly wet, especially early spring. Temperatures in March average about 40 degrees Fahrenheit overnight to mid 50s by day, rising to a range of about 50 to 70 in May. By June, daytime temperatures can sometimes be in the 80s and 90s, although the average is mid 70s. May and June have less rain but cloudy days are common. 

The height of summer in Portland arrives in July. High pressure systems in the Pacific bring north-westerly winds during afternoons and evenings. These highs prevent much moisture from forming, resulting in warm dry summers. Temperatures usually range from the 50s overnight to high 70s in the daytime. It can be hotter though, with temperatures in the 90s reasonably common but infrequently exceeding 100 degrees. Occasionally, temperatures can go over 100 in any of the months from May to September. Memorial Day (late May) 1983 was 100 degrees. Portland’s record high temperature was 107 degrees Fahrenheit (or 42 degrees Celsius) on 30 July 1965 and on 8 and 10 August 1981. The heat doesn’t last long as cooler ocean air blows in.  

Early autumn is warmer than late spring but temperatures soon cool to the point where late autumn is cooler than early spring. September is warm with daytime temperatures in the mid 70s, falling to mid 60s in October. Cooler clear nights result in fog across the valley which can be thick at night and in the early morning. Fog can last several days.  

The city gets few destructive storms. The Coastal Range partly shelters it from ocean storms. Surface winds occasionally exceed 50 mph (gale force) but rarely above 75 mph. Thunderstorms are not common. Winter and spring storms are weak and might produce gusty winds and small hail. Summer storms can be fiercer with frequent lightning, stronger winds, and larger hail. Funnel clouds occasionally form but the city has few tornadoes. Its worst tornado was on 5 April 1972, killing six people, injuring over 300, and causing $4 million in damage.  

In summary, Portland has a mild climate with a relatively small temperature range. Most of its rain is in winter. Its topography usually prevents it from suffering weather extremes.