PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Every winter, people in Portland visit one website–in droves–to ask one simple question: Is it snowing?
There’s only two answers to the website isitsnowinginpdx.com–‘no’ when there’s no snow–and ‘yes! commence panic!’ once the flakes start falling, complete with a flailing Kermit the Frog GIF.
The website, originally launched in 2011, is the brain child of Maximillian Kirchoff and Stacy Bias.
Though both creators have since moved away from Portland, Kirchoff still maintains the site from his home in Austin, Texas to appease the cult following of fans it has gained over the years.
Kirchoff said he sees a lot of social media chatter about the website, which is operational all year long, and is surprised by how popular it has become.
“My wife is actually recently asking me why it was so popular and I honestly don’t really understand myself. It itself has become a meme and I think it’s the general obsession with snowing in Portland,” he said.
Isitsnowinginpdx.com gets fed information from a real time weather service website, making it completely automated. Kirchoff explained that he has to periodically update what weather service website he uses because of how often they become defunct. When the linked weather website crashes his site stops working and he gets inundated with messages to fix it, he said.
When asked why he bothers continuing updating the sparse site, which has little more than links to Kirchoff’s and Bias’ websites as recompense, he said it’s the simple joy it brings people.
“I really love Is it Snowing in PDX ’cause for me it just represents something so silly and so stupid that people can laugh about and find delight in.”
Kirchoff added that he’s even been recognized on the street for having created the site, as his photo appears on it. He now helps run a creative studio where he regularly makes branded websites for companies.
Stacy Bias, the site’s co-creator, is a London-based fat activist, artist, and animator, according to her website.