By Gordon McCraw
We had that fast moving cold front zip through early this morning, bringing rain and gusty winds with between ¼ and 3/4” of rain. We saw some scattered showers behind the front that will persist tonight though becoming more widely scattered before diminishing before midnight as a high pressure ridge moves in. The front is ushering in colder air that pushed down the snow level to around 2500 during the day today which will continue to drop to near 2000’ tonight.
Speaking of tonight, we see partly cloudy skies moving in overnight with the winds becoming easterly 4-8, maybe some patchy early morning fog, the low drops to near 30. Any remaining moisture on the roads may freeze so stay alert for black ice, especially on the bridges.
With the ridge moving in we can expect partly sunny skies tomorrow, winds still easterly 4-8, the high only near 49. We will see increasing clouds tomorrow night ahead of the next system that will start giving us a slight chance of rain in the early morning hours, the winds easterly 4-8, the snow level still near 2000’. Depending on the timing of all this, the summit may see some flurries in the morning hours until the temperature climbs with the incoming, warmer system.
It looks like a flat, or zonal west to east flow, will develop by Sunday that will persist through most of next week. This will also be accompanied by a strong jet stream that will push a series of systems across the area that will bring rain across the region through the holiday period through most of next week. These systems will be ushering in breezy, sometimes windy, conditions as they push across.
So, Sunday looks like it will become rainy by midmorning, winds becoming southerly 5-10, highs up near 50, the snow level will be climbing up to near 4500’, rainy still that night, lows near 41. Christmas Day looks cloudy, rainy, and breezy, highs near 55, lows near 47.
As I mentioned, Tuesday and Wednesday will see more rain with breezy conditions, highs near 56, lows near 46. Things still look rainy Thursday, but a little cooler with the high near 53, lows near 40.
If you plan to travel eastward, you will want to keep a close eye on the weather and road reports. Saturday and Sunday the Gorge and Hood River areas may see snow or maybe even some freezing rain as they will be slower to warm, especially Sunday, in fact, after that there is a slight chance that they may have snow and ice issues all the way through midweek. Like I said previously, even the Coast Range passes could see some snow Sunday morning before the temperature starts rising from the incoming southerly winds. Obviously the Cascade passes may be seeing some snow today then some more Sunday, a mix on Monday above around 5500-6500’. The precipitation looks to be just snow by around Thursday when things start to cool down.
Lastly, it looks like the heaviest of rain will be to the south towards California with an atmospheric river impacting that area more, so for now, hydrological issues appear to be of minimal concern.
So, from me to all of you, have a safe and very Merry Christmas!
Listen to the forecast here: