Document text
More rain, (or snow) heads here By JULIE SWENSEN Fed up with all that rain in November? Brace yourselves for more. After a month in which 7.67 inches of rain fell in Medford -- the second highest amount ever for the month -- the first day of December brought a strong Pacific storm moving in, a flood watch notice for the area and a forecast for some snow in Medford later in the week. The flood watch notice -- issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service for Jackson, Josephine and Douglas counties, and the western Siskiyou County in northern California -- warned that a wet weather system that moved into the area Tuesday and will stick around early today should dump significant rainfall. Small streams and local areas along mainstem rivers may have some flooding. The high water is expected to have an impact on low-lying bridges on the Applegate River, and also should make rafting and other recreational activities on the Illinois and the lower Rogue Rivers very hazardous, the weather service warned. As for snow, Medford is expected to have some of it mixed with rain on Thursday, with a high of 40 degrees and a low of 27. But the snow's just forecast for Thursday -- today should only bring rain, and Friday and Saturday are forecasted to be partly sunny. For the Southern Oregon Cascades and Siskiyous, the snow level should drop from 5,000 feet this afternoon to 2,500 feet tonight, and temperatures in the pass are expected to dip from the middle 30s this afternoon to the upper 20s tonight. Thursday will bring snow showers, and afternoon temperatures in the pass will be in the lower 30s, the National Weather Service forecasted. While the weather service issued a winter storm watch Tuesday for the Southern Oregon Cascades and Siskiyous, it was cancelled later in the day. Warmer air moving ahead of the Pacific storm was to keep the snow level fairly high for most of it. In the Rogue basin, the snow level is forecasted to drop from 4,500 feet today to near 2,500 feet tonight. Temperatures should dip from a high of 40 to 45 to a low of 30 to 35 this evening. Showers are likely tonight, and there's also a chance of showers Thursday, when snow levels will hover near 2,500 feet and highs will be around 40. At Crater Lake, there was six inches of new snow Tuesday for a total of 64 inches. At Mount Ashland, there was 82 inches of snow on the mountain Tuesday, marketing director Gene Landsmann said. Because California hasn't been getting much snow -- Mount Shasta has not yet opened -- Mount Ashland has been drawing skiers from the San Francisco Bay area and the coast. Landsmann said that Saturday was the busiest day at Mount Ashland in three years. For more weather information, access the Mail Tribune web site at www.mailtribune.com . Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA