Gray & Wet Next Couple Days

Good morning! It’s a wet start to our Thursday across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. A stream of moisture is moving in from the south, generally affecting areas west of the Cascades. The rain isn’t all that heavy though. Expect periods of light to moderate rain, and mild conditions today. High temperatures will reach the low 50s across the metro area, and mid to upper 50s to the south. This pattern will continue through Friday, with the wettest conditions focusing along the coast & Coast Range. Those areas should pick up about 0.75-1.50″ of rain between today & Friday, with isolated pockets in the Coast Range tallying about 2 inches. Our western valleys will receive about 0.30-0.75″, with the higher totals west of the I-5 corridor. Points to the east of I-5 won’t see that much precipitation. That’s good news, considering how high the snow levels will be over the next couple of days. Our snow level will climb from about 6,000 ft. to 8,500 ft. today. We aren’t expecting the ski resorts to lose much snow during this time frame.

The steady stream of moisture (atmospheric river) will fizzle out as we head into the weekend, so just expect scattered showers Saturday. That being said, an area of low pressure will develop offshore of the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, bringing a much wetter day to the region. It will also turn a bit cooler Sunday, with highs dipping back into the upper 40s.

A gradual cooling trend will continue into next week, with an even wetter system arriving closer to midweek. Expect high temps to trend into the mid to upper 40s, with overnight lows in the upper 30s and low 40s. Cooler air will lead to lowering snow levels. The snow level should be closer to 2,000-3,000 ft. by Wednesday.

Have a great Thursday!

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