(National Weather Service/Pendleton/Central OR Office) – Temperatures will continue to warm over south central and southeast Washington as well as central and northeast Oregon this week.
High temperatures by the end of the week are expected to be in the mid 50s to lower 60s with overnight lows in the 30s to
lower 40s. The warmup will accelerate snow melt across the region. In addition, a weather system will be moving through the Pacific
Northwest Friday through Sunday, with mainly light rain.
Snow
levels are expected to start out between 6000 to 7000 feet and lower to 4500 to 5500 feet on Saturday, While the ground is not frozen over much of the region, the increased runoff will likely fill small ditches and storm drains.
There may be some local areas with frozen soils near the surface. This will keep melt water from soaking in and may result in local areas of lowland flooding, water over roads and basement flooding. Water flowing into creeks and streams will increase as well, both in the lower elevations and in the mountains with streams and creeks becoming full.
The flowing water may increase the potential for ice jams on any still frozen rivers. At this time, no flooding is expected on the larger rivers.
Impacts will depend on how fast the snow melts.
