Here We Row Again: Flooding Shuts Bend Underpasses

The continued monsoon-like flow of stormy weather into Central Oregon poured down with a vengeance Saturday evening, flooding all three of Bend’s underpasses for the third time in five days.

The stormy weather hit around 6pm and heavy rain continued for close to 90 minutes in places, shutting the Third Street and Franklin and Greenwood avenue underpasses shortly before 7:30 p.m., Deschutes County 911 dispatchers said.

By 8:20 p.m., the Third Street and Greenwood underpasses had reopened, but the Franklin underpass remained closed until close to 10 p.m., dispatchers said.

In northeast Oregon, the unstable atmosphere brought heavy rain, pea-sized hail – and a rare sighting of afunnel cloud, spotted late Saturday afternoon south of Grass Valley, in Sherman County.

A National Weather Service spotter said the funnel cloud only reached about one-third of the way to the ground, and lasted 45 seconds.