People help push car out of a snow bank Monday, Dec. 22, 2008, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The National Weather Service says the winter wallop that dealt the Portland area nearly 19 inches of snow in the last two weeks has by one measurement made December the snowiest month since January 1950 in a city more noted for winter rain.

Based on the snowfall at Portland International Airport, meteorologist Charles Dalton said, the winter weather also gave the city its snowiest Christmas at least since 1940, when the agency began recording precipitation levels there.

The January 1950 total at the airport was 22 inches of snow.

When it falls, snow tends to vary in depth in the metro area. In last weekend's snowstorm, it was heaviest in the city's West Hills as well as the suburban areas east of the airport.

Weekend forecasts show temperatures will warm and remain above freezing, causing the snow to melt.

The snow pack throughout parts of the northern Willamette Valley is likely to yield about 1.5 inches to 2 inches of water, Dalton said. Portlanders should also expect a couple of inches of rain through Saturday evening to wash away much of the snow, he said.

"Once we start to see rain, it'll really melt down," Dalton said. "It would be a good wager to say it's going to be gone by the end of the weekend."

With the warm front moving over the valley, Dalton said, two concerns facing the region are whether the rain and melting snow runoff will cause river flooding, and whether the slush and melting snow pack on the streets will cause urban flooding.

"The details are just not quite clear enough to know," he said. "But we're looking at a pretty wet stretch."

According to Portland's transportation department, the city is bracing for the meltdown and officials are to keep major routes throughout the city open and prevent drainage problems and street flooding.

Road crews' weekend work will include plowing, sanding slick spots, the city said in a release, and TriMet is aiming to reopen bus lines on neighborhood street.

While the week's winter storms have quieted, Portland General Electric's task of restoring thousands of power outages continues.

PGE, the state's largest utility, said Friday it was down to fewer than 10,000 customers without power because of the week's snow and ice.

In the last seven days, the utility said, crews have repaired 380,000 outages and responded to nearly 2,600 downed wires across the company's operating area.

PGE says 285 crews worked extended shifts through Christmas Day, and are scheduled to continue working through the weekend.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)