It's barely Febuary but the walls are already coming down.

It's a phenomenom that began in March of 1995. After an unusally high winter rainfall, slopes around west Portland began collapsing. While the banks of the Willamette River rose, the West Hills began to fall. One avalance on SW Fairmont neccisitated the evacuation of a row of houses nearby. The resulting mud flow blocked the street for over a week, much to the delight of the high schoolers that jumped around on it and to the bane of nearby residents.

Every spring since, several roads around town close down due to similiar landsldes. SW Scholls Ferry Road is notorious for its yearly barrage of mud soaked lanes and collapsing asphalt. Road crews also fight an almost yearly battle with a hill near SW Multnomah.

In the last week, the city has been hit by a series of punishing rain storms. It's a month early, but one slope overlooking the Terwilliger Curves on I-5 has already come down. On Sunday night, the northbound right lane was closed.

If this weather continues, there's no telling how much craziness will ensue once the snow pack on Mount Hood starts melting. What does all this mean? In about a month, Blog will be chock full of awesome mud slide pics. Stay tuned.