452 FXUS66 KPQR 121106 AFDPQRArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Portland OR 406 AM PDT Sun Oct 12 2025
.SYNOPSIS... A cool and unsettled pattern continues across the Pacific Northwest through Monday as a series of broad upper-level troughs move through the region. Periodic rain, mountain snow, and below-normal temperatures will persist into early next week. A gradual transition toward warmer and drier weather begins midweek as a ridge builds overhead, though model guidance diverges toward the end of the week regarding another potential low near the coast.
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.DISCUSSION...Now through Friday...Early morning satellite imagery shows the main upper-level low now centered well east of the Cascades, while a secondary trough drops southward from western Canada. This setup will maintain cool and showery conditions across the area through Monday. Radar trends show scattered light showers continuing to shift eastward, with occasional heavier bursts along the Cascade foothills.
Cold air aloft associated with these systems will support convective showers today, with roughly a 15% chance for isolated thunderstorms through this afternoon - most likely along the coast and Coast Range, but a few could extend inland where breaks in cloud cover allow for localized surface heating. With the current sky forecast, there is low confidence for breaks in cloud cover inland.
In the higher terrain, snow levels hover near 4000-5000 ft, allowing for accumulating snow across the Cascades. A winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for elevations above 4000 ft through Monday morning, where there is a 50-80% probability of 2 to 6 inches of wet snow for the Cascade passes. Highway 26 near Government Camp carries a similar probability for a trace to 3 inches of wet snow. At elevations above 5000 ft, snow totals of 5 to 17 inches are likely, with about a 60-80% chance of exceeding 12 inches north of the Three Sisters. This heavier band could impact travel on unmaintained or high-elevation roads.
As these systems move through, daytime highs remain below seasonal averages, generally in the mid-50s to low 60s across the lowlands and upper 30s to 40s in the Cascades. Overnight lows trend colder as the post-frontal air mass settles in.
Focusing on the Upper Hood River Valley, confidence continues to increase that cloud cover will keep lows above freezing through tonight, but clearing skies Monday night will allow for strong radiational cooling. Temperatures in the Odell to Parkdale corridor are forecast to drop between 28 to 32 degrees, with a 50-90% probability of sub-freezing temperatures and 10-50% probability of dropping to 28 degrees or colder, highest around Parkdale. A Freeze Watch have been issued from 12 AM to 9 AM Tuesday for the Upper Hood River Valley, where sensitive vegetation and unprotected plumbing could be affected.
Tuesday through Thursday, ensemble and deterministic models continue to favor the development of a broad ridge over the region beginning Tuesday. This will bring a warming and drying trend, with highs climbing into the low to upper 60s across the lowlands and reduced shower activity. Nighttime lows will remain cool, especially in valley locations prone to radiational cooling under clear skies.
Beyond Thursday, forecast confidence decreases as ensemble solutions diverge. Roughly half of ensemble members rebuild a weak offshore shortwave trough, which could nudge inland between Thursday and Friday. If realized, this pattern would bring increasing cloud cover and a return of light rain, especially along the coast. Otherwise, a stronger ridge would keep conditions dry and mild into the weekend. At this time, forecast PoPs range from 10-20% midweek, increasing to around 30-50% late week under the wetter scenario. ~12
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.AVIATION...Showers continue as the trough moves out of the region. A low pressure system currently located over British Columbia begins to strengthen and dig south along the West Coast, bringing continues showers through at least 12Z Monday. A mix of VFR and MVFR conditions are expected through most of the TAF period; 20-40% chance for MVFR conditions between 12Z Sunday and 06Z Monday throughout the airspace (lowest to highest chances from north to south).
The next round of showers are expected to arrive around 12-15Z Sunday, contributed to the aforementioned probabilities for MVFR conditions. With passing showers, CIGs could lower further, influencing model guidance suggesting a 10% chance for IFR conditions at most terminals. Otherwise, expect southerly to southwesterly winds around 5-10 kt through the TAF period.
KPDX AND APPROACHES...Showers continue as the trough moves out of the region. A low pressure system currently located over British Columbia begins to strengthen and dig south along the West Coast, bringing continues showers through at least 12Z Monday. The next round of showers arrives around 12-15Z Sunday. There is a 20-40% probability for MVFR conditions between 12Z Sunday and 06Z Monday, with the lowest conditions expected to occur with passing showers. ~12
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.MARINE...Currently as of 4 AM Sunday, seas remain around 10-12 ft and northeasterly winds around 15-20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt persist over the waters. The highest seas and strongest winds are located over the northern outer waters while the lowest seas and weakest winds are located over the southern inner waters off the central coast of Oregon. As the trough shifts eastward through today, Small Craft northwesterly winds and seas will weaken.
A weak low pressure will then drop southward across the waters tonight into early Monday. This will usher in a reinforcing shot of gusty north to northeasterly winds during this period. Seas will remain elevated as a result. High pressure then looks to build back across the northeastern Pacific during the middle of this week. This looks to allow seas to drop down to around 5 to 6 ft.
There remains quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the weather pattern next weekend, with an 80% chance that significant wave heights will climb and end up somewhere between 10 and 19 ft by next Saturday/Sunday. ~12
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.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Freeze Watch from late Monday night through Tuesday morning for ORZ121.
Winter Weather Advisory from 8 AM this morning to 11 AM PDT Monday for ORZ126>128.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 8 AM this morning to 11 AM PDT Monday for WAZ211.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 9 PM PDT this evening for PZZ210.
Small Craft Advisory until 5 PM PDT Monday for PZZ251>253-272- 273.
Hazardous Seas Warning until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for PZZ271.
Small Craft Advisory from 5 PM this afternoon to 5 PM PDT Monday for PZZ271. &&
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NWS PQR Office Area Forecast Discussion