Snow, Flood and Wind Warnings Around Oregon Coast Range, Beaches, Portland

Published 02/05/2017 at 6:29 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – A variety of warnings and watches were issued by the Portland office of the National Weather Service (NWS) for the Oregon coast, the coast range and Portland / valley areas. Most urgent are the winter storm warnings in effect for large amounts of snow for the Oregon coast range and the inland valleys, while the beaches are currently getting snow on Sunday evening.

Winter storm warnings are in effect until 6 a.m. on Monday for the north Oregon coast, the coast range and the Portland area – including Salem and other valley towns. A high wind warning is in effect for the entire southern Oregon coast through 10 p.m. tonight. A flood watch is in effect for all of northwest Oregon through Tuesday, except for the north Oregon coast.

The NWS said that on the beaches about an inch of snow or more is possible. In places like Nehalem, Astoria and Rockaway Beach the snow is reportedly sticking, although most places - including Seaside – it is not.

The Portland area is bracing for more heavy snow issues, but so far on Sunday it has stayed out of the metro area. Snow is expected at some time overnight, which seems likely to cause at least a small amount of travel difficulties during the morning commute. Rural areas around Portland – especially closer to the coast range – are getting hit with plenty of snow, however.

Monday and Tuesday are expected to be on and off with snow showers and rain.

In the coast range, several inches of snow have already covered either the roads or the ground nearby. The worst is farther north along US26 and US6. There, roadside snow is at more than ten inches at the summits and snow on the road surfaces is four to six inches. ODOT is considering these under the “Severe Weather Hazard” categories. US18 at the Van Duzer Corridor has some snow as well but not nearly as heavy.

The coast range will get the heaviest snow over the next half a day or so. Five to ten inches are expected in the coast range and the NWS said driving will likely be treacherous. This is expected to taper off by late Monday morning into occasional snow showers and then just rain after 4 p.m. The highs there will be around 37 degrees, which should melt all problem areas off the roads. Temps will occasionally dip below freezing over the next two days causing brief bouts of snow in the coast range.

Oregon coast towns, especially those on the northern end, will likely see some more snow through the early morning hours. But by late morning the entire Oregon coast moves to temps above 40 and merely drenched in heavy rains.

High winds are batting the southern Oregon coast on Sunday with gusts as high as 70 mph. But even just north of that region, around Yachats and Florence, some power issues are being reported because of the wind.

The flood watch has the NWS keeping a close eye on rivers around the central coast, Portland, Vancouver and the I-5 corridor.

“The far-northwest Oregon coast and coast range have been removed from the watch area due to lower precipitation rates and more snow than rain,” the NWS said.

Rivers that may reach flood stage include the Luckiamute, the Alsea and Siuslaw on the coast, Johnson Creek in Portland and the Marys River in Benton County. Landslides are also a risk in many of these areas.

Below: more photos of snow on the coast and the passes from recent years. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours - See Oregon Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Traffic Conditions

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