Local Alert Weather – Tues. PM

Happy Tuesday evening, everyone!

Say ‘goodbye’ to sunny skies for a while! We’re looking at clouds rolling in tonight ahead of the next front with the new system pushing inland. Clouds increase after midnight and temperatures will stay in the 20s tonight with some in the teens to the north in the canyons. Patchy freezing fog would be left for areas in Jefferson County in low-lying elevations. We don’t expect much more fog other than that.

The approaching front will bring scattered showers to Central Oregon tomorrow morning with snow for the highest elevations across the mountains. Snow levels will be around 7,000′ to begin the day falling to 5,500′ by the evening. Keep in mind roads will be slick on the High Desert as we haven’t had rain in a while and oil has been building on the surfaces.

Highs for Wednesday will be in the upper 40s and lower 50s. We’ll see overnight lows in the 20s and 30s.

For Central Oregon we’ll see rain showers and windy conditions on Thanksgiving. Winds will gust 30 miles per hour with the next wave moving through. Expect a wet Thanksgiving evening with heavy rain at times. Highs will be chilly in the mid to upper 40s.

Snow levels fall to 5,200′ Friday morning then to 3,600′ in the afternoon and evening. So we could see some snow mixed in to higher elevations like La Pine and Sunriver.

Black Friday will be a very wet one for Central Oregon. Rain showers will continue throughout the day and we’ll see another cool one with highs in the mid to upper 40s.

The weekend ahead looks drier than Thursday and Friday. We’ll see chances for showers, but overall partly sunny conditions. Highs will be in the mid to upper 40s with lows in the lower 20s.

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TRAVELING ACROSS THE CASCADE PASSES:

Wednesday: Snow levels will be around 6,600′ for the Cascades Wednesday morning falling to 5,500′ in the evening. We’ll see mostly rain down to pass level with some snow mixing in as temperatures drop. The roads should be wet and potentially slick, but we won’t see much snow building up by this point.

Wednesday night: Showers turning to a rain/snow mix with snow showers by the morning. Cold overnight lows will cause the surfaces to freeze and you can expect slick roads with spots of ice.

Thursday: Heavy mountain snow will return by Thanksgiving morning. From this point on the showers across the passes will be in the form of heavy, wet snow. We’ll likely see the passes covered by this point, so you will want to carry chains or traction tires for your Thanksgiving travel over the mountains.

Thursday night: Heavier mountain snow is on the way and snow levels will be around 4,800′. We’ll also see strong wind gusts, so it could be white-knuckle driving with low visibility. Snow will be piling on the roads.

Friday: Snow the morning changing to a rain/snow mix in the afternoon, but we’ll still see snow accumulating on the passes. Still have winter driving skills and patience on board with you as you travel. Allow plenty of time this holiday!

The chances for showers dwindle as we get into the weekend and will become more scattered, but this is really the beginning of winter driving conditions across the Cascade passes.

Make sure you plan accordingly and travel safely!

— Emily