Winter weather warnings and a wind warning are in effect until Thursday

A winter storm warning is in effect for the east face of the Cascades, including Sisters, La Pine and Sunriver C, until 10 p.m. Thursday. During this time, approximately 2 to 4 inches of snow will fall along 97 south of Lava Butte, mixing with rain at times. The snow will be accompanied by gusty winds causing travel problems. Patchy ice will also be a problem at night when temperatures fall below this. The majority of the snow will be on the mountains, but lower elevations are also likely to experience gusts around 35 mph during this period. A warning is in effect for Crook County at 4 p.m. Thursday, but not before a few inches of snow cover parts of the area.

A wind advisory will come into effect this evening and continue into Thursday morning. Southerly winds gusting to 20 mph are likely, with gusts around 40 mph at times. It would be a good idea to leave the inflatable Christmas decorations “deflated” today and tonight as the wind could move your amazing lawn decorations.

Various winter weather threats are expected across Central Oregon over the next few days. The mountains will have to contend with several inches of snow, the wind will howl through the passes, there may be icy roads and fallen trees. Lower elevations will see a mix of rain and snow, with the snow mix more likely at night and rain more likely during the day. The bottom line is that the region will have to deal with several waves of rain, wind and snow at least until Monday.

Driving through the mountains from this afternoon and into the night is not recommended as there will be gusty winds and intermittent snowfall. There will be more than one wave of snow and rain across the Cascades this week, and each will bring at least 8 to 10 inches of snow. Gusts around 80 km/h are possible, not always, but occasionally. Trees can fall if there is heavy snow on them when gusts occur.

Thursday through the weekend will be a similar story as regular rain and snow continue in the mountains. No flooding is expected east of the Cascades, but some traffic jams and minor flooding may occur due to ongoing rain. More likely, the timeframe towards the end of the week and into the weekend will provide the best chance of addressing our flooding concerns.

If you head west to the coast for the holidays it will be difficult to get over the mountains and you will have to deal with a lot of rain and wind until next week. Most of the moisture in these storms is deposited west of the Cascades. High surf and dangerous coastal situations occur daily.

Please stay safe.

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