Portland's Woodstock neighborhood got a little more than an inch of snow Sunday morning on Dec. 26, 2021.
April Ehrlich / OPB
A cold front from Canada dropped snow across the Pacific Northwest on Sunday morning, triggering winter storm warnings for areas west of the Cascades, including lowlands and beaches. Those remain in effect until early Monday morning.
A few inches of snow blanketed much of the Portland metro region as of 9 a.m. Sunday.
The National Weather Service predicts the Portland and Vancouver area will have snow up to 2 inches through Sunday night, while the central and south Willamette Valley will see some rain, although the southern parts of the valley could get snow up to 7 inches by Monday morning.
Still expect snow showers for another 8-10 hours, but plenty of sun will poke thru in between to limit additional accumulation, especially over the Willamette Valley.
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) December 26, 2021
As the sun lowers later this afternoon, colder temperatures will bring black ice potential again.#WAwx #ORwx pic.twitter.com/GgXtUL3fPh
Portland didn’t get hit with many weather-related power outages, but southern Oregon wasn’t so lucky. About 3,200 customers in Josephine County were without power Sunday morning, according to Pacific Power. The region got several inches of snow, even in low-lying valley areas. The National Weather Service strongly advised people in the region to avoid traveling.
As of Sunday, temperatures in Portland predicted a high of 34 dropping to 19 by night. Moving into the week, the weather service says to expect dropping temperatures. Chances of low-elevation snow will continue through midweek, but snow amounts will likely remain low.
Weekend temperatures remained low enough for Multnomah County to open warming centers through Sunday, including:
- Sunrise Center, 18901 E Burnside Ave. Portland
- Salvation Army, 5325 N Williams Ave. Portland
- Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Ave., Portland
- Mt. Scott Community Center, 5530 SE 72nd Ave., Portland
- East Portland Community Center, 740 SE 106th Ave., Portland
Elsewhere
Between 3 and 5 inches of snow fell in Seattle overnight. Observers in Port Angeles, across the Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula, reported about 11 inches of snow.
Another 2 to 5 inches of snow were expected to fall in parts of northwest and west central Washington during the day, the National Weather Service said.
Frigid temperatures in the region could tie or break records in the coming days.
The Seattle area is expected to dip as low as 18 degrees F, the lowest in several years. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, will drop to -5 F by Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
❄️📏 SNOW REPORTS
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) December 26, 2021
Are we having fun yet? Here's a look at snowfall totals so far from the WONDERFUL & DEDICATED @CoCoRaHS observers. You can check out the data yourself here: https://t.co/H4lSoMqzYS (switch the view to new snow depth). #wawx pic.twitter.com/HLINbCPSI7