Oregon weather: Heavy rain brings high water, snow hits Cascade Mountain passes
Story updated at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, with a winter weather advisory for the northern Cascades.
Anyone waiting to bask in the sunshine of spring will need to wait just a little bit longer.
After one of the wettest and coolest Aprils on record, that trend is expected to continue with an upcoming week of rain, thunderstorms and mountain snow that could make travel over Cascade Range passes difficult this weekend.
Parts of Salem got hail Saturday afternoon. The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a winter weather advisory through 10 a.m. Sunday for snow of 5-10 inches in the Northern Cascades, including Government Camp, Detroit and the Santiam Pass. Ice accumulation was also expected on the roads in the area overnight.
From Thursday through the weekend, 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain is expected in the Willamette Valley, with amounts up to 3-5 inches in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.
The rain should be spread out enough to avoid serious flooding, but there could be localized minor flooding in low-lying areas in Salem and along the Willamette River on Sunday and Monday.
"Low-lying trails and park areas along the Willamette River may be impacted as water levels increase over the next few days," the City of Salem said in a news release. The high water could impact Minto-Brown Island Park, Wallace Marine Park and other areas along the river.
The Willamette is projected to crest at almost 20 feet — just under "action stage" — late Sunday and early Monday.
At mountain pass levels — including Santiam and Willamette passes — the evenings and early mornings could bring snow-covered roads that include anywhere from 6 to 13 inches of snow, with amounts far higher above 5,000 feet.
The weather is expected to stay cooler and somewhat wetter for the next 8 to 14 days, according to long-range forecasts.
"If you just moved to Oregon recently, you're probably thinking, 'What the heck happened to spring?'" said Colby Neuman, meteorologist with NWS in Portland. "The reality is that we haven't seen a spring like this since the early 2010s and it is nothing like the hot and dry springs that we've had recently."
Overall, the wet spring has been a blessing for a state where much of the state has been mired in a longstanding drought.
Both Salem and Portland, which saw one of the wettest months of April on record, are now above average in terms of total precipitation for the water year, which begins Oct. 1.
As of Thursday, Salem has recorded 34.98 inches of rain, which is slightly above its 34.7-inch average, and this system will likely move it even further ahead. Portland has gotten 33.91 inches of rain, above its average of 30.44 inches. Only Eugene, which had some odd rainfall readings in the 1990s, remains below average, with 31.93 inches of rain, against an average of 35.28.
"In general we have seen less rain as you get further south, but the good news with this system is that it shouldn't bring any flooding, and will help fill reservoirs and fall on areas with deeper drought in the southern half of the state," Neuman said.
It's unclear exactly when the state will start to dry out, but Neuman said next week still should bring plenty of days with showers, with possibly a dry day or two in between.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon weather: Heavy rain brings high water in Salem, snow on passes
