Warmup coming to Portland and WIllamette Valley after freezing rain Tuesday night

Ice accumulation on tree branches. (Laslovarga/Wikimedia Commons)

Temperatures in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington remained below freezing Sunday after a cold front and low pressure system brought snow and damaging winds to the region. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that three people died in the Portland metro area as a result of cold temperatures and falling trees. Over 200,000 customers are reported by […]

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Winter storm weekend for Portland metro and Willamette Valley

Arctic air diving south out of Canada on Friday and a low pressure system making landfall on the Oregon Coast Saturday will create a dynamic weather pattern through the weekend in the Pacific Northwest. As a result, numerous winter weather alerts from the National Weather Service have been posted for Western Oregon and Southwest Washington […]

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Frigid temps for the Inland Northwest, heavy snow possible in Northeast Oregon

An arctic cold front moving southwestward across the Columbia Basin is bringing a plunge in temperatures. When it passed through Moses Lake on Thursday afternoon, the temperature dropped from 32°F (0°C) at 13:45 to 21°F (-6°C) at 15:30. From there temperatures continued to slowly drop to reach 18°F (-8°C) by 18:30. The cold front reached […]

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Winter weather advisory for Portland metro as compact low moves through

A compact low pressure system embedded within the regional flow pattern is forecast to track near the Portland metro to produce heavy precipitation Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory from 22:00 Tuesday to 06:00 Wednesday. In the advisory, the National Weather Service […]

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Blizzard warning for the Cascades, wind alerts for Columbia Basin

A strong low pressure system and associated frontal boundaries are forecast to approach the Pacific Northwest from the northwest producing heavy precipitation and windy conditions throughout the region. Travel is expected to be difficult Monday evening through Wednesday with Cascade and Blue Mountain highways possibly being impassible at times. This system has prompted National Weather […]

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Christmas winter weather advisory for the Tri-Cities and Yakima

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley from 10:00 Monday to 10:00 Tuesday. The Cascade Mountains also have an alert posted, but Walla Walla was left out of the advisory area. Light precipitation is forecast to spread from west to east across Eastern Washington and […]

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Flood watch for Portland metro as Pineapple Express takes aim

A prolonged period of wet weather has begun in the Pacific Northwest to kick off meteorological winter. For most, rain started Thursday and the east wind coming through the Columbia Gorge was cold enough to allow slushy snowflakes to briefly mix in with the rain in parts of Northeast Portland. Additional rainmakers are forecast to […]

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Cold season temperature inversions

From about November to February temperature inversions accompanied by low clouds and fog are a common weather feature in the Columbia Basin. These are not unique to the Columbia Basin with many valleys throughout the Western United States and the world also experiencing strong inversions, including the Salt Lake City area in Utah and Almaty, […]

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Elevated earthquake activity at Mount St. Helens but no eruption imminent

An increase in seismic activity beneath Mount St. Helens that started on July 15, 2023 continued this week, reports the Cascades Volcano Observatory. Seismologists were able to locate nineteen earthquakes this past week a few miles below the volcano’s summit bringing the total for this earthquake swarm to 465. All of these earthquakes have been […]

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Hurricane-force storm in Alaska to bring rain and mountain snow to most of the West Coast

A rapidly intensifying low pressure system is moving north through the Gulf of Alaska on Wednesday afternoon. It is forecast to make landfall on or near Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula early Thursday morning. Off the coast of Alaska, hurricane-force winds are forecast to extend eastward from the Kenai Peninsula toward the southeastern portion of the state. […]

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