Rain in the cities, snow in the mountains to continue

Published 1:52 am Monday, November 7, 2005

Powder hounds looking for a taste of winter in the cities of the High Desert may have to wait another week, but drivers could see slippery passes in the Cascades tonight, forecasters said.

Bend denizens will likely see a mix of rain and sleet falling this week, said George Perry, a forecaster with the National Weather Service Office in Pendleton. But temperatures likely won’t drop low enough to spark any major snowfall at lower elevations.

”I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but I don’t think we’re going to see any significant accumulations,” Perry said.

Higher elevations such as Sunriver and Santiam Pass could see a dusting of snow, however.

Forecasters are calling for 1-2 inches over 4,000 feet during the day today, Perry said. Sunriver’s elevation is 4,160.

Travelers heading south or northeast could encounter more snow, forecasters said.

A snow advisory was issued Sunday night for areas over 4,500 feet in the Klamath Basin, according to the National Weather Service office in Medford. Forecasters predicted 3-5 inches could fall in some areas of the basin by 10 a.m. today.

Snow is also forecast through the day today in the Ochocos.

Between 2-5 inches of snow is predicted in the Blue Mountains and areas of the Ochocos over 4,000 feet, according to the weather service.

Some regions of Central Oregon received several inches of snow on Saturday, according to Perry of the Pendleton office. A camera at the 6,300-foot Pine Mountain Observatory showed 4-5 inches of snow on Sunday night, he said. A weather station on Hoodoo Butte reported a snow depth of more than 17 inches Sunday night.

As the week goes on, high temperatures in Bend are predicted to increase, from the high 30s and low 40s today to the low to mid-50s by the end of the week. Lows over that period could dip into the low 20s.

Bend likely won’t see rain as heavy as it was on Saturday and Sunday, Perry said. A little more than an inch of rain fell in the Bend area between 5 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, he said. By comparison, the city recorded a little more than half an inch for the whole month of October.

Higher elevations may have a chance at more snow on Friday or Saturday, Perry said.

”It does look like it’s setting up with a good stream of moisture coming out of the Pacific,” Perry said. ”But it’s way too early for me to say that’s going to be any kind of a heavy snowfall.”

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