Mountain snow and brisk winds through the night
Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – The National Weather Service has extended the Winter Weather Advisory for the Cascades until 4 am Thursday. The snow and wind are creating travel issues through the passes and will continue into the night. The total accumulation of snow above 5000 feet should be around 5 – 7”.
Lower elevated locations are seeing quite a bit less activity than expected. The rain is spotty and mainly to the north and east. The chance for scattered showers will continue today, but partial clearing skies will take over the region as the night arrives. Highs will be in the middle to upper 40s today, with most of the precipitation getting consumed by the Cascades. There is still a slight chance some lighting will develop, but mainly east of the region.
Tonight, we are still expecting mountain snow, but most of the high desert will start clear out. The winds will be in the 20-mph range at times which will help dry out any roads that may still be wet.
Thursday will be brisk with winds gusting near 25 mph at times, and the mountains will be more robust, as usual, with gusts near 35 mph. There is still going to be some snow squeezed out across the crests but not much more than an inch or so. The high desert will stay dry and breezy under partly cloudy skies.
Friday may have a brief round of snow arrive before the sun comes up, but for a brief period and mostly in Crook County and along the east face of the Cascades. The snow will linger for a bit longer over the mountains. Highs will start to rebound back into the upper 40s to low 50s.
Saturday and Sunday will be mild and dry with highs getting back to the 60s both days. This will be a great pre-spring weekend with a springlike feel across Central Oregon. The mountains will be a good place to enjoy snow that will have fallen this week as well.
Monday will see a robust wind return to Oregon as high pressure off the coast is being flattened. The winds will be from west to east, or a zonal flow, with mostly dry conditions. The windy weather will be hanging around for the first part of next week.
Please, Stay safe.
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