The weather action is picking up with several different storms arriving over the next week. I’ve got a nice new extended forecast for you all. These graphics are better at communicating the time of day rain can be expected. For example, you can see Tuesday morning should be dry, but rain will move in during the afternoon. Remember you can click on images for a closer view. 🙂

Highlights

Snow levels dip pretty low for the first time this winter Thursday morning through early Friday morning. During this time period, snow showers could fall in the Coast Range and other foothill locations like Silver Creek Falls.

It will also be a wet week. No flooding, but I expect multiple rounds of rain and heavy showers in the coming week. Estimated precip totals show a widespread soaking over the course of the next several days which is good news.

The Cascades

Perhaps even better news is that these storms will bring the snowiest weather the Cascades have seen all winter. It’s been one of the worst ski seasons ever, and the snowpack is severely behind schedule, but this parade of storms will finally bring much needed snow and hopefully enough to open more terrain for the snow parks.

This next map shows estimated snowfall totals through Friday the 9th. Ignore the snow showing up in the Willamette Valley as it tends to overdo the low snow levels. The main takeaways are: lots of mountain snow (3 to maybe 4 feet of it), and snow levels will be low enough for the Coast Range and foothills to see a little bit of snow.

The Cascades will be snow covered the majority of the time Sunday through Friday. Best times to travel the Cascades without too much snowfall would be today, Sunday late morning and afternoon, and Monday through Tuesday morning. Tuesday evening through Thursday night look to be the very snowiest timeframe with heavy snow likely in the passes.

Bottom line is it’s going to be cooler, there will be plenty of valley rain, and (finally) lots of mountain snow. Take care, happy new year again, and stay safe out there!