Strong winds have been blowing through the area, bringing trees and limbs down on power lines, so if you wake up Thursday morning to a dark house, it’s probably because of this.
For a large portion of the Willamette Valley, including Portland and Vancouver, the National Weather Service has issued a wind alert. The alert, which warns of gusts of 35 to 50 mph, is in force until 6 a.m. As of 5 a.m. Thursday, gusts in the 40s were recorded in several urban areas.According to Portland General Electric’s outage map, 282 outages in the broader metro area, including Salem, left over 27,000 people without power.
#pdxtrafficPower disruptions have been reported around the metro region since Thursday morning due to gusty winds. When a traffic light malfunctions, proceed as though it were an ALL-WAY stop. Be careful. These are the wind gusts as of five in the morning.image.Twitter: https://www.tweepfKT1p
Near Cornelius Pass Road, the Oregon Department of Transportation issued a warning that lines would cross U.S. 30 and close the major highway in both directions at around six in the morning. See TripCheck.com for further information.
The region will have gusty south to southwest winds throughout the morning due to a significant pressure gradient, but by mid-morning, the winds should lessen in intensity, according to the weather service. Along the coast, overnight peak wind speeds have often been between 60 and 65 mph. Gusts of up to 50 mph have been recorded in the Willamette Valley.
Thursday will be a breezy morning in Portland, with rain showers continuing until lunchtime. It will get as high as fifty-two degrees.
On Friday, there will also be showers that continue until the early afternoon with occasional gusts of wind. The rain will resume at 4 p.m. after a couple of hours of rest. 52 degrees will be the high temperature.
Over the next few days, there will be multiple rounds of fresh snowfall in the Cascades, with the majority of it falling over 5,000 feet. On Thursday and Friday, there will be a combination of rain and snow on the pass roads, along with occasional wind. Travelers should have chains or traction tires on hand and be prepared for cold weather.
More rain showers are predicted for Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. On Saturday, highs will be close to 52 degrees, but on Sunday, they will drop to 49 degrees.
An avalanche warning has been issued by the NWAC for areas of the Cascades, such as Mt. Hood, the west slopes of the Washington Cascades, and Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes.It is predicted that dangerous avalanche conditions would persist until Thursday, December 26./9wrtZUmcNh #ORwx#WAwxpic.twitter.com
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