Hydrologic Outlook | Oregon Weather

Good morning! I'm Aaron Jolly. And welcome to the Oregon Weather Podcast — it's Monday, February 23rd. If you stepped outside this morning and felt like you were swimming to your car.. Yeah, that's about right. We've already soaked up four-tenths of an inch in the last 24 hours. But that was just the warm-up act. A Pineapple Express atmospheric river is parked right over us. And it's about to open the floodgates. The Willamette Valley is ground zero. Rain falls nonstop from now through 3 A.M. Tuesday, peaking hard around 6 A.M. You're looking at one to two inches of new rain by tomorrow morning. Southern Willamette Valley gets three-quarters to one inch. Highs today hit the upper 40s to low 50s, but here's the weird part — temperatures actually fall through the afternoon. You'll drop from near 50 at noon to the mid-40s by evening. Winds shift from south-southwest to west-southwest around 8 A.M., but they stay light at 5 miles an hour. Push east over the Cascades into Central Oregon. You'll see light rain likely today, 60% chance, with gusty south winds 10 to 13 miles an hour. Highs climb to 52 degrees around 1 P.M., then crash to 38 by tonight. The big change comes after midnight — rain transitions to a rain-snow mix, with snow levels dropping to around 3,000 feet. If you're heading over the passes, expect slushy roads by Tuesday morning. Here's your heads-up for the week. Tuesday brings more rain, though lighter. Highs rebound to the low 50s in the valleys. By Wednesday, we finally start drying out. Thursday and Friday look dry and seasonable, mid-50s both days. The weekend? Mostly sunny and 53 degrees by Sunday. Yes, sunshine returns. Keep the rain gear handy and watch for ponding on roads. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.