Growing confidence this morning that we will see significant snowfall here in Salem next week.  I have our day by day forecast below and then some possible plot twists, but first, a couple of things to keep in mind going forward.

1.)  Your day to day life will probably be impacted by snow next week.

2.)  Details will likely change a number of times before this actually takes place,  This is simply my best guess as of now, and I would never give my loyal followers nothing short of my best! 😉

EXTENDED FORECAST

Today:  Gusty winds increasing in strength during the late afternoon.  Gusts up to 40mph by evening time.  Rain will move in late afternoon/early evening.

Sat & Sun:  Rainy and breezy.  Gusts generally 25 to 35mph.

Mon:  Wet snow showers through the day.  Very slushy accumulations possible just about anywhere, but higher elevations stand a better chance of picking up an inch or two.  This not looking like a snow day.  Normal life (including school) will go on relatively unaffected by snow as most of this snow will melt upon reaching the ground.

Tue:  Snow showers and sunbreaks with a dusting to 2 inches possible just about anywhere.  More snow the higher up you go.  School delays seem possible, but a full on shut down doesn’t look super likely at this point in time.  Temps won’t make it out of the 30s.

Wed:  A dry start to day with snow moving in sometime during the afternoon or evening.

Thu:  Snow and possibly some freezing rain much of the day long.  A classic winter storm setup for the mid valley.  Feeling pretty confident Thursday ends up being a snow day (possibly Friday as well).  Highs Thursday close to 32 degrees.

Possible plot twists

1.)  I’m watching a storm coming in Monday night that could give us a significant amount of snow if things line up just right.  Currently I’m not sold on the idea yet…  Just keep in the back of your head the possibility of Monday night/early Tuesday morning being snowy.

2.)  Snow is almost certain at this point with the Wed/Thu storm.  Question is, will this be a couple of inches type storm that is over fairly quickly, or do we get slammed with 6 plus inches of snow?  Hard to have a good idea this far out, but 2 – 3 inches seem likely at a minimum.

3.)  The timing of the Wed/Thu storm is still very much in the air.  Several forecasts have it stalling out giving us snow from Wed late morning until Friday, some have it moving through much quicker, and some have it not moving in until Thursday morning.  LOTS can and will change with the timing of this storm.

The Cascades

While we are getting rain this weekend, the Cascades above 2500 – 3000’ are going to be hammered with feet of snow and blizzard like conditions.  Not a good weekend at all to travel the Cascades.  If you must travel then expect possible road closures and very slow traffic as we are talking upwards of 5 feet of snow now through Monday morning!!

I’m just amazed at how much snow is forecast to fall up there, so be prepared with chains and everything else you need to stay alive in your car should you find yourself stuck up there for several hours.

There you have it.  I’ll probably have another update either later today or tomorrow.With each update from here on out I should be able to add both more details and higher levels of certainty to the forecast.