Oregon forecast calls for snow, cold winds
Saturday, December 13, 2008 8:26 PM PST
By Mary Hudetz
The Associated Press
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E-mail this articlePORTLAND — Bundle up, Oregon.
The cold front moving down from Canada and the strong east winds moving through the Columbia River Gorge are going to drop temperatures in parts of northern Oregon to levels not seen for about 10 years, said Andy Bryant of the National Weather Service in Portland.
Forecasts showed a storm moving in Saturday night with snow and strong winds.
Bryant said temperatures will drop to 15 to 20 degrees Sunday with wind chills around zero.
The National Weather Service said frigid temperatures will last well into next week.
"Once it turns cold it's going to stay cold for several days," Bryant said. "The really big question now is just how much snow are we going to get."
The storm has so far brought more than and inch of snow to Salem, and points above 2,000 feet have received between one and three feet of snow. About 3 to 7 inches has accumulated in the Coast Range.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warming from 8 p.m. Saturday through 10 p.m. Sunday for the Portland-area. On Saturday night and Sunday morning, snowfall at lower elevations could accumulate up to 4 to 6 inches on the Willamette Valley floor, Bryant said.
With fresh snow fall on Mount Hood Saturday, two ski lifts at Timberline Lodge were up and running for the first time this season, giving skiers access to more than 10 different runs on the lower mountain, said the ski area's spokesman Brian Reed.
Until Saturday, only lifts running to a perennial snowfield above the Timberline Lodge, about 50 miles southeast of Portland, were open.
"It definitely feels like winter has arrived at this point, and we are moving ahead at full force," Reed said.
Because the mountain got about 7 more inches of snow while the ski area was open Saturday, Reed said, more lifts at Timberline Lodge will likely open Sunday. According to the National Weather Service, about two feet of snow has fallen on the Mount Hood ski area in the last 24 hours.
But skiers headed to Mount Hood, must use chains or have traction tires, said Dave Thompson of the Oregon Transportation Department. The transportation department is requiring all motorists use chains and traction tires at US 26 Mount Hood Highway at Government Camp, he said.
"That's been a problem spot," he said, "and it looks nasty."
Further to the east, a stretch of Interstate 84 between Pendleton and LaGrande was closed Saturday afternoon due to multiple weather-related crashes. Late Saturday afternoon, I-84 reopened but vehicles snow tires and chains are required there, too, Thompson said.
Mary Fetsch of TriMet, Portland's public transportation system, said all city buses running Sunday will be chained.
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