High Winds for Portland, Salem, Valley, Oregon Coast - One Kind of Warning or Watch

Published 01/04/2019 at 4:53 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) - All of the Oregon coast and the vast majority of the inland portions of the state are under a high wind watch or warning for Saturday evening and overnight. The National Weather Service (NWS) is saying strong winds will batter the coast late at night, reaching into Portland for a brief time. (See recent storm video below).

More heavy wave action is likely again on Monday and the early part of the week.

“A strong low pressure system is expected to move north just off the Oregon Coast late Saturday and Saturday evening, likely spreading strong winds north through much of NW Oregon,” the NWS said. “The strongest winds are likely to occur along the Central Oregon Coast and into the southern part of the Willamette Valley, with the storm weakening as it moves north.”

In most cases, the highest winds will occur only in a three-hour period. Portland and much of the valley are under a high wind watch, while the coastline is under a high wind warning.

For the Portland and Vancouver area, southwest winds up to 35 mph are likely. Elevated areas like the West Hills of Portland, Chehalem Mountain, and Salem Hills may experience local gusts as high as 60 mph.

Along the central Oregon coast, southwest winds of around 40 mph will be fairly steady, and gusts as high as 65 mph are possible. Higher portions of the coast range will also get hit hard. The high wind warning is in effect from 6 p.m. through 2 a.m.

North Oregon coast towns such as Pacific City, Astoria, Manzanita and Seaside will also get similar winds although a little lower in speed, by around 5 mph less. The high wind warning there is in effect from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., whereas most of these expire around 2 a.m.

“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects,” the NWS said. “Tree limbs could be blown down, and scattered power outages can be expected.”

More storms are on their way this week.

“This system will also spread rain across the forecast area, with snow in the Cascades tonight through Sunday,” the NWS said. “Another low pressure system is expected to move onshore near the OR/CA border Sunday night, bringing more steady rain to the southern zones while scattered showers persist in the north. Seasonably damp weather looks to continue well into next week as a series of frontal systems move into the West Coast from the Pacific, though there may be a drying trend toward the end of the week.”

Swells at sea may make for some good wave action on Saturday afternoon, at around 17 feet, but dropping down to around 10 feet for some of the weekend. By Monday, combined seas rise again to over 20 feet, which could mean more surf advisories on and off through Wednesday. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours - Oregon Coast Weather.

See Best Lodgings for Storm Watching

Storm images below courtesy Seaside Aquarium

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