Weather Report is rather intense. Everybody get on your raingear! Unseasonably windy and very wet storm systems expected this weekend to impact southwest Washington and northwest Oregon... A pair of potent early fall storms will impact the Pacific northwest this weekend... bringing a period of moderate to very heavy rains to the southwest Washington and northwest Oregon. These storms will also produce strong winds along the coast and locally inland as well. These are highly unusual storms for September and have the potential for producing record rains. A storm bolstered by subtropical moisture will bring increasingly heavy rain today into a good part of this evening. High winds will also occur along the coast and Coast Range. Windy conditions may spill into the inland valleys as well. The second potentially even stronger storm is expected to approach Sunday and move through the area Sunday night. This storm will have moisture from a former western Pacific typhoon and will bring another round of heavy rain to southwest Washington and northwest Oregon Sunday and Sunday night. Even stronger winds are possible with this storm... both at the coast and inland. Rainfall estimates through Monday show amounts in the Coast Range and Cascades could reach 7 to 10 inches... with 2 to 4 inches in the valleys. These rains will likely lead to areas of Urban and Small Stream flooding. Larger rivers will likely also see significant rises. This amount of rainfall will also lead to debris flows and landslides in steeper terrain. Some places this often occurs includes the Columbia River gorge... The West Hills of Portland... and the foothills of the Cascades. The combination of heavy rain... saturated soils... strong winds... and trees with a full complement of leaves will likely lead to tree damage and power disruptions... especially at the coast and in the Coast Range but also possibly in the inland valleys both Saturday and Sunday. The strong winds and expected high seas will cause problems for mariners along the coast. People should also avoid beach areas where they can be washed away by the higher waves and can be severely injured or killed by debris tossed onshore. Details on this developing storm continue to come together. Please continue to monitor the latest information from the National Weather Service for the latest watches... warnings... or advisories that are in effect.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 23:28:28 +0000