Heavy wind, rain and possible mountain snow expected for Northwest Oregon

Northwest Oregon is expected to get its first big soaker of the season over the next few days.

After a relatively calm early October, Portland and the Willamette Valley will be hit by substantial rain on Friday, at least 1 or 2 inches in many areas.

“The main impact for most folks might just be some ponding or sort of nuisance flooding of low-lying areas,” said Lee Picard with the National Weather Service in Portland.

No serious flooding is expected, as it’s still early in the wet season, so Oregon’s rivers and reservoirs still have some capacity.

Picard said the rain will likely be followed by winds of 20 to 30 mph on Saturday. Wind speeds could even increase, depending on where a low-pressure system ends up.

“At this point, we’re not looking at widespread damaging winds,” said Picard. “But that’s not totally off the table at this point either.”

After Saturday’s winds, yet more rain is expected on Sunday and Monday.

Some forecasters are calling for freezing temperatures as low as 4,000 feet, which could result in snow accumulation along the higher mountain passes.

Portland is in the process of testing its 56 snow plows, and crews are working to clear leaves away from the city’s approximately 50,000 storm drains.

“We’ve been preparing for the rain and wind all week,” said Dylan Rivera with the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

He asked for residents to keep an eye out for blocked storm drains and rake leaves away if possible. But he warned that people should not try to pick up the metal street grids.