Chapter TWO

Topography

Oregon has 3,928 mountain peaks. Oregon's Pacific shoreline is bordered by sandy beaches and coastal plains. The Coast Range serves as the western wall of the Willamette Valley. The Coastal Range rises to 4,000 ft. Salem, the state's capital lies southward in the valley and is surrounded by the Calapooya Mts.

East of the Willamette Valley are the volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range. The Cascade Range is a rugged mountain chain that runs from north to south about 100 miles inland of the state. Mount Hood has the state's highest elevation (11,235 ft). 

Oregon's physical features are characterized by mountain slopes and treeless basins, valleys, rivers and wastelands. The state's mountain slopes are heavily forested. They are almost entirely covered by pine trees. Which is not unusual given that the state is the main source of the nation's Christmas trees. The state tree is the Douglas Fir which is also known as Oregon Pine.

Oregon also has 231 state parks. Its large amount of natural space helps the state receive income from tourism. I contributed to that income this summer and visited Silver Falls in the South Falls Historic District.
Below are some pictures I took while there.

Climate


The most important factor in Oregon's climate is the Pacific Ocean. It is the state's western border. The winter's lowest temperature and summer's highest temperatures occurring in the western portion of the state are moderate. Because the western area of the state receives a lot of moisture from the ocean, it provides abundant rainfall for the western portion of the state as well as rainfall in eastern high elevations.

Another influences geographic factor is the Coast Range. This mountain range also aids in the large amount of rainfall received in the western part of the state. The Cascade Range also affects the state's weather. It is in the Cascades that the state receives its heaviest snowfall. The annual average snowfall ranges from 300 to 550 inches. The largest amount of snowfall was officially recorded at Crater Lake National Park headquarters  with a maximum annual snowfall of 829 inches and a snow depth of 242 inches.

While there is a large amount of annual snowfall near the mountain ranges, there is hardly any snow along the coast. The average annual snowfall along the coast is about one to three inches. The inland valleys receive between 10 to 15 inches of snow annually. However, that snow does not last on the ground for more than three days on average. 

In EXTREME cases, some parts of the state can have heavy snowstorms that could produce up to 25 inches of snow in 24 hours.

Sources:
TOPOGRAPHY
"Geography." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0860156.html>.
"Oregon." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108262.html>.

CLIMATE
"Climate of Oregon." N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/narratives/OREGON.htm>.
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