Weather
"It rains all the time out there" is the common misperception among out-of-staters. Well, it doesn't. Portlanders proudly remind visitors that their city gets less annual rainfall than New York or Chicago. What Portland does get is an abundance of gray, misty, chilly days between early November and early May, but the natives don't let that stop them. And, it must be said, sometimes it does rain for days on end.
However, thanks to the city's low elevation and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, there's little snow or frost. A typical winter day is in the 40s F/4-8 C, with drizzle, rain, fog or clouds. Sometimes the sun peeks out, a much-celebrated event known locally as a sunbreak. In spring and late fall it's the same, but temperatures are in the 50s F/10-14 C.
Things start to bud in May. By June—always, it seems, right after the Rose Festival—the sun comes out for good. Summer highs are in the 70s and 80s F/20s C, with lows around 50 F/10 C. By mid-July, everyone has forgotten that it ever rains.