Brisk winds today, spotty showers possible, mountain snow Wednesday

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – The winds were the most notable feature this afternoon as they came out of the SSW at around 20 – 25 mph at times. They were out ahead of a cold front that is expected to cross the region this evening. Rain will be associated with the frontal passage, but not much, possibly around 0.10 – 0.25” at best. A nice watering of the lawn, but much less than we need.

Highs today will once again be in the 60s ahead of the front, then only make it to the 50s Wednesday and Thursday. The rain tonight will end before sunrise but that will not be the end to the precipitation for the mountains.

Light snow showers are likely to arrive in the afternoon Wednesday but be confined to the mountains. There is a second line of showers that will follow the initial rain event. This line will be fairly robust across the Valley but should get ringed out over the Cascades. The snow will be wet and heavy, with little accumulation, most models are going with about an inch or two at best. The mountain passes will be impacted by the west snow and travel will be slick.

Going forward into the night, although the snow will have ended by the evening, there may be some icy roads to deal with as the mercury in the thermometer will drop into the 20s and teens at higher elevations.

Meanwhile across the High Desert, Wednesday will be variably cloudy, with more clouds than sunshine, but only a slight chance for any precipitation past the eastern slope of the Cascades. Sisters may see some snow showers at times, but no accumulation.

Thursday begins a dry spell as high pressure returns to the area. Highs Thursday will be in the low to middle 50s, just right for late March, under mostly sunny skies and breezy conditions.

Friday, we return to the middle 60s under sunny skies and warm to the 70s both Saturday and Sunday. The final weekend of March will seem more like June.

Monday will be the setup day for a rainy day on Tuesday.  The last day of March, Tuesday, we have a good chance for some light rain off and on.

Please, Stay safe.

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