Crown Point Report

I was just up there for about an hour, standing in the lee of Vista House with Tyler Mode, Jesse from Orchards (and his brother), "Sandman" from Aloha, and Dr. J from Vancouver.

I hadn't done that for several years…here are the highlights:

1. Tyler recorded a peak gust of 92 mph.

2. 3 (or was it 4 or 5) car doors broken as folks parked facing away from the wind.  You open the door and it snaps well beyond the normal opening, bending the metal…one couple had two doors busted on the same car!  Good times…as the car hobbled back the scenic highway towards Corbett.  They won't ever be back.

3. One woman was tossed head first into the pavement and appeared stunned.  It's okay, the First Live Local weather blog team rushed in to help out.  A bit of blood here and there, but she made it back to her car.

4. Lots of flying hats, kleenex etc…

5. I had almost forgotten this one.  When in the middle of a windstorm, don't ask a guy that walks up to you "hey, you're Sandman right?".  He'll think you're nuts, or worse, working a drug deal as Fox12's Most Wanted.  I did that today…had the wrong person.  Real classy, right on the steps of one of Oregon's most famous tourist spots.  Could have caused an incident.

If you've never experienced 80-100 mph wind, this is the place to do it.  Just be very careful, walk low/close to the ground, and park facing into the wind.  And it's windy enough that I would not allow children out of the vehicle that are under 10 or so.

I'm attempting to warm up now…Mark Nelsen