Happy Winter Solstice, which occurred at 1:21am today! Days will now be getting longer and the sun sets later and later. Four to five storm systems will affect the PacNW through Dec 29. A few will be strong but not major.
WINDS: It will probably get a little windy on Christmas Day (Wednesday) with gusts up to 25 mph and possibly 25-35 mph on Thursday Dec 26. These are not considered strong winds, but with the soils saturated it's always possible for a 30-35 mph wind to knock over a tree.
LOTS OF RAIN+SNOW: Biggest concern is 4-6" of more rain here (on top of the about 3" that has already fallen this month) AND 4'+ of additional snow at the higher elevations of the Cascades. These storms will have subtropical moisture feeds extending out to north of Hawaii so snow levels will fluctuate at 4000-7000' due to the "warmer" air from the subtropics. The consequence of this is that when snow levels are high it rains below which helps melt snow already there. This adds extra water into streams, creeks, and rivers so those will be running high with possible minor flooding.
I-5 pass at OR/CA looks to have rain with snow staying above the pass through Christmas Eve (Tuesday) and possibly flirting with pass level on Christmas Day (Wednesday). Snow probably above pass level Thur-Fri. Biggest issue looks to be strong winds at times over the passes and not crippling snow.
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