Warmer Christmas weather clears icy streets and sidewalks; more rain due

MERRY CHRISTMAS, CENTRAL OREGON!

We’ve really warmed up for the first time in a few weeks, clearing many of those still-slick streets of recent snow and ice.

We've gone from the above/below-freezing cycle of late to a warmer storm system that could bring an inch or more of rainfall to areas of the High Desert as the new week begins. Bend Airport was in the upper 50s late Christmas morning, quite the turnaround from the first several weeks of December! And the mountain passes were in the mid-40s, making for safer holiday travel, a welcome shift.

In fact, National Weather Service forecasters say 2-3 inches of rain is expected over the Cascades, making for snowmelt, runoff and some rising streams. Though no major flooding is expected, ponding is expected in places, as well as blustery winds.

Another storm system is due at mid-week, bringing more rain and high-elevation snow, an up-and-down snow level that brings a fairly typical wintertime pattern of snow, rain or a mix.

FROM ALL OF US AT NEWSCHANNEL 21, HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!