Cool and showery weather will continue in the metro area Wednesday and the mountains will see more snow.
The National Weather Service says, much as it did Tuesday, that the afternoon could bring some thunderstorms with chance of small hail. Portland will see a high of about 49 degrees.
A low snow level means the mountains will see another shot of the white stuff before skies clear overnight. Ongoing daytime showers could bring another 2-4 inches of accumulation across the passes. The deeper snowfall will show up along the central Oregon Cascades where a winter weather advisory has been placed along the Lane County mountains. That advisory is up through 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Shower activity will quickly wind down from north to south Wednesday evening and Portland will have a brief period of dry and cold weather Thursday. Overnight clearing will bring some of the coldest temperatures of the season so far across the Willamette Valley. Early morning temps will be in the 30s in the metro area, and even in the 20s in the foothills. Make sure your pipes are covered and sensitive plants are brought indoors or otherwise protected.
After a chilly morning, Portland will see a mostly dry day Thursday with some possible fog early in the day. The high will be about 49 degrees.
The dry weather doesn’t last long. The next system moving into the region will show up later Friday and dump a lot of rain. The weather service is calling this a moderate-to-strong atmospheric river, and forecast models are mostly in agreement that this will bring significant rainfall along the coast by late Friday afternoon, and into the valleys overnight and into early Saturday.
Portland will see rain most of the day Friday, with increasingly heavy rain into the evening. Winds will be breezy as the front moves through. The daytime high will jump to about 57 degrees as this system is tapping into tropical moisture.
Regional rivers that tend to flow high could see some minor flooding from this storm. In urban areas, nuisance flooding is possible with ponding on the roads, overflowing gutters, and stream overflows. Much of this may happen in the overnight hours. If you’re driving around in the dark, use caution and do not drive through flooded areas.
The rain from this system will likely continue into Saturday morning. Portland may wake to rainfall, but this fast-moving storm is expected to move out of the area by the afternoon. The high will be about 51 degrees.
The storm won’t be good for recent snowpack in the Cascades. Snow levels are expected to rise as the system approaches and be above 7,000 feet by Friday night.
Extended forecasts are showing the snow levels dropping back down near the passes by Sunday.
Ad Choices