PORTLAND, Ore. - The possibility of strong, damaging winds moving into the area Sunday night is still a bit of a wild-card, said KATU Meteorologist Rod Hill.
But he believes the gusts may not be as harsh as earlier predicted.
"It is unlikely that this turns into what we remember as a wind storm," Hill said. "I think we're going to get some pretty good breezes tonight. But I don't think it's going to go down in the books as a wind storm."
The high wind warning area runs along the coast from Newport up to Long Beach, Wash., in the Willamette Valley from Salem to Cowlitz County and into the foothills of the Cascades.
At the most, Hill believes, the coast will see gusts up to 65 mph. The Willamette Valley is more likely to see gusts up to 45 mph between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Wind gusts along the central coast near Newport were already reaching near 60 mph shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday.
Those are strong enough winds to bring down some trees due to the saturated soil, which could produce some power outages.
"It could get harry tonight," he said.
No flooding is expected.
A cold front that comes into the area about 4 a.m. Monday could also spike up the wind.
The following effects typically occur at various wind speeds:
- 30 mph: Winds put large branches in motion
- 40 mph: Walking becomes difficult
- 50 mph: Weak trees blow down
- 60 mph: large limbs break off
Meanwhile, a strong Pacific storm system dumped snow in the mountains across much of the Pacific Northwest Sunday.
And forecasters are warning of heavier mountain snowfall overnight.
The National Weather Service says up to a foot of snow fell in some areas of Cascades' western slopes by midday Sunday. The weather service is predicting another 8-14 inches of snow to fall in the western Cascades by late tonight followed by 6-12 more inches tomorrow.
Flood warnings remained in effect on three Western Washington rivers yesterday: the Cedar River at Renton and Landsburg, the White River near Buckley and the Cowlitz River below Mayfield Dam.
The weather service says the Cowlitz River caused minor flooding near Toledo today because of water that was being released from Mayfield Dam. It says similar flooding was likely in parts of Pierce County after a controlled release of water at Mud Mountain Dam on the White River scheduled around midnight today.
The weather service says 8-14 inches of snow are expected in the eastern Cascades by tomorrow afternoon, with up to 5 inches in the valleys. Forecasters called for about 6-10 inches in the mountains of the Idaho Panhandle today, with the snow expected to taper off by Sunday evening.
