Chilly, wet Turkey Day expected

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2018-11-21

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Chilly, wet weather is forecast to push into southwestern Oregon and Northern California starting Wednesday, making Thanksgiving travel through the Cascades dicey and bringing snow to Mount Ashland, the National Weather Service says. A series of fronts is expected to bring low-elevation rain, snow in the mountains and breezy conditions through Saturday. Snow is expected mainly above 5,000 feet, though it could whiten the Siskiyou Pass on Interstate 5 by Friday night. “It might snow a little bit, but it’s not going to be debilitating to where you can’t travel through it,” said meteorologist Charles Smith. “It might just be a few flurries up on Siskiyou summit.” No snow is expected on the Sexton summit north of Grants Pass. Up to 6 inches of snow is expected at Lake of the Woods by Saturday morning, however, with a foot to 18 inches estimated for Diamond Lake and as much as 2 feet for Crater Lake, according to the Weather Service. Mount Ashland could receive as much as 10 inches by Saturday, Smith said. More than an inch of rain is expected in the Rogue Valley, with up to 1-1/2 inches forecast for Roseburg. The Southern Oregon coast, including Brookings, could see up to 6 inches of rain. “That’s a legitimate winter storm,” Smith said. “It’s over a longer duration but, yeah, that’s still a pretty good amount of rain.” The weather service issued a flash flood watch for areas in Josephine and Curry counties burned by the Klondike and Chetco Bar fires, saying heavy rain can trigger landslides and debris flows in steep terrain. Winds are expected to wallop parts of the region tonight and into Thursday afternoon, with the heaviest winds on the Oregon Coast and in the Shasta Valley. It’s expected to get breezy in the Rogue Valley, too. “Areas pretty close to the coastline could see strong gusts up to 60 mph,” Smith said. “That’s expected between Wednesday night through Thursday afternoon. That’s when that first system comes in that we’re the most concerned about.” Motorists are asked to be cautious on the road. The rain follows several weeks of dry weather, which means oil buildup on the roads could make driving conditions quite slippery. Reach web editor Ryan Pfeil at [email protected] or at 541-776-4468. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanpfeil.