Mountain snow continues, rain likely over the High Desert

The parade of storms continues to march through the Pacific Northwest bringing high elevation snow and lower elevation rain. The temperatures over the weekend will be mild and support mainly rain east of the Cascades. The snow levels will be above 4500 feet (La Pine is 4200 feet) so the wintry mix of rain and snow will occur mainly at night when temps drop below freezing.

The Winter Weather Advisory is in place until 11 pm tonight along the east face of the Cascades. Sunriver and La Pine may see some snow today and early this evening. It may be extended into the night as there is an advisory for Crook county until 4 am Saturday.

Tonight, another wave of cold rain mixed with snow will provide wet roads, icy spots, and poor travel.  The mountains will continue to see the snowfall cause problems for those traveling through the passes, but joy for the snow riders. Timing of the snow and mix is estimated to be before midnight and should last into the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. The Snow will exit from west to east with Crook County seeing the snow linger just past sunrise. Accumulations are going to be in the 2 – 3” rain due to the wet and non-frozen ground.

Saturday will be a cloudy day with a few showers before sunrise as mentioned, but not much in the way of sunshine. A warm front arrives from the south after the sun goes down and there will be some snow ahead of the front. This should be short lived as rain will overtake the region overnight into Sunday.  The snow levels will be near 6500 feet so travel over the passes will be messy and slushy.  The crests will be snowy and snow-packed creating dangerous travel conditions.

Sunday will be the tapering off day as the region begins to dry out. An area of high pressure will begin to take over for a couple of days, keeping us dry.  The showers Sunday will be mainly in the morning and spotty.

Flooding is a concern Sunday morning as the rain may be heavy at times before dawn. The lag-time of the runoff will allow us to see small creeks and streams running fast and full, but not overflowing.  Ponding on roadways will be likely.  Some icy conditions may develop overnight into Monday morning as temps dip to the 20s.

The last bit of 2024 will be dry and crisp as highs will be in the upper 30s to low 40s and overnight lows in the teens and 20s.  A spot shower is possible New Year’s Day but not much more than that.

Please stay safe.

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