Winter weather advisory issued for foot of snow on Oregon Cascade passes this weekend
A winter weather advisory has been issued for around a foot of snow on Oregon’s Cascade mountain passes this weekend.
The advisory lasts from 5 a.m. Saturday into 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The snow could impact travel in the Mount Hood area (Highway 26), Santiam Pass (Highway 20) and Willamette Pass (Highway 58), along with highways in the southern Cascades.
Between 4 to 10 inches is forecast above 3,500 feet, with 16 inches forecast above 5,000 feet.
Heavy rain is forecast from Friday through Monday in the lower elevations of western Oregon, with snow levels beginning fairly high on Friday before dropping overnight into Saturday. It’s unclear exactly how quickly the precipitation will transition to snow and where it will start sticking to roadways in the mountains.
The weather shifts to much warmer and drier by later next week, when temperatures could reach as high as the 80s in the Willamette Valley.
With the warmer weather incoming, any increase in the state's snowpack will be welcome. Oregon's mountain snowpack is currently 102% of normal while precipitation is 103% of normal.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. 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 X at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Advisory issued for foot of snow on Oregon Cascade passes this weekend
