After a relatively dry stretch of weather that’s brought fog to the valleys and sun to the mountains, Oregon’s weather finally starts to get a little more active late this week and into the weekend.
Rain is forecast to return in heavier amounts Wednesday night into Thursday, and Friday night into Saturday, across northwest Oregon.
However, only around an inch of precipitation is forecast in the Willamette Valley, meaning the system shouldn’t have any major impact. A bit more precipitation is likely to fall in the mountains and at the coast.
Oregon’s snowpack remains above normal for this time of year.
The two systems are forecast to drop some snow at Oregon’s Cascade mountain pass levels, but major accumulations aren’t expected.
Jon Liu, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland, said only around 6 inches — maybe a bit more or less — is forecast between Wednesday night and the weekend.
“These aren’t really strong enough to produce a ton of snow,” he said. “At the passes, we’re forecast a few inches spread out over multiple days and multiple systems. But nothing too heavy.”
Oregon’s snowpack remains above normal thanks to an early start to the season, allowing all of the state’s ski areas to open and opening winter recreation. However, long-range forecasts predict somewhat wet and warmer conditions over the next two weeks.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon rain and mountain snow forecast to return this week