High Winds, Flooding, High Surf to Rough Up Oregon Coast, Washington Coast

Published 12/18/2019 at 5:35 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – A gnarly set of storm conditions are coming to the entire Oregon coast and southern Washington over the next day or two, with various flood watches, high wind watches and warnings and a high surf warning. It’s a dizzying array of storm issues, some of which include areas like Portland, the Willamette Valley, and even winter advisories for the Cascades of both Oregon and Washington.

Along the northern half of the Oregon coast and southern third of the Washington coast, there is a flood watch in effect from Thursday evening through Sunday, and a high wind watch for that same time period. This includes the towns of Yachats, Newport, Lincoln City, Pacific City, Tillamook, Manzanita, Seaside, Astoria and the Long Beach Peninsula of Washington.

The central and northern Washington coast are under no watches and warnings.

On the southern Oregon coast – from Florence southwards – conditions are more severe. This includes a high wind warning for Curry County (Port Orford, Gold Beach, Brookings) from Thursday through Saturday, and a high wind warning for the south central coast (Reedsport, Bandon) from Thursday through Friday. There’s also a high surf warning for all of the southern Oregon coast, but not one for the northern half or Washington beaches. There is the possibility of flooding on the south coast but no advisory.

Washington Coast Through Central Oregon Coast: The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a flood watch for the areas from Yachats through southern Washington for Thursday through Sunday morning, as well as Eugene through Portland, Oregon’s wine country, the Columbia Gorge and southern Washington inland.

Heavy rains will pound the northern Coast Range and Willapa Hills the hardest with three to eight inches, and about half that for the inland areas or beaches. The NWS said to keep a watch on rivers like the Grays in Wahkiakum County, the Siletz and Alsea in Lincoln County, and the Luckiamute in Polk and Benton Counties. Johnson Creek in the Portland metro area is also forecast to crest near flood stage.

A high wind watch is in effect for these areas from the central coast through southern Washington beaches, with south winds of 30 to 40 mph possible and gusts up to to 60 mph possible. Power outages are quite possible.

While there is no surf advisory for the northern half of the coastline, it is still a possibility. Offshore waves Thursday and Friday will build to 18 feet combined seas and then to 22 feet before subsiding, with a fairly long period swell of 12 seconds or so. It usually takes slightly longer periods to create serious hazards, but extreme caution should still be exercised on the beaches of Lincoln, Lane, Tillamook and Clatsop counties.

Southern Oregon Coast: A high wind warning is in effect for the entire south coast, including Bandon, Reedsport, Gold Beach, Sixes and Brookings. Gusts up to 60 mph are expected, especially on headlands such as Cape Arago. The NWS said holiday decorations will be blown around along with other issues.

“People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around trees and branches,” the NWS said. “Use caution if you must drive a high profile vehicle.”

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather - See Oregon Coast Traffic Conditions - See Willamette Valley Road Conditions, Traffic (Eugene, Albany, Corvallis, Salem, Wilsonville to Portland)

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