Today is sort of the calm before the storms. Note that it’s plural - “storms”. West of the Cascades: Clouds and fog in many areas. Clouds and a few isolated showers later this afternoon, but otherwise a mostly dry day, getting breezy at the coast with a High Wind Watch for tonight. High temps 50-55. East of the Cascades: fog to increasing clouds. High temps 39-56. Cascades: lots of clouds, catching a few rain showers later.

The first of several strong Pacific fronts look to move into the region Saturday. Could see wind gusts at the coast up to 60 mph. In Portland and the Willamette Valley we’re going to likely see some wind gusts up to about 30-40 — could be just barely below advisory criteria. The storms kind of stack up in the Pacific to move through about every 24-36 hours. So, on/off heavy rain and wind for much of the region.

Saturday the snow levels look to be high enough that all the Cascade & Siskiyou passes (Government Camp, Blue Box, Santiam, Willamette and Siskiyou) see rain. Sunday it looks like we’ll see snow at the Siskiyou and Willamette passes. Monday looks rainy for all the passes—but Monday night things look more snowy for all the passes as snow levels could plunge to about 3,000 ft. Tuesday they pretty much stay put for what could be a difficult travel day over the Cascades and Siskiyous. A bit better for Wednesday. Safe travels, everyone!