textproduct: Portland

SYNOPSIS

We are entering into a period of typical winter weather here in the Pacific Northwest with a low pressure system sitting off of the coast. Will see continued rain and Cascade snow through Saturday followed by a ridge of high pressure that will keep conditions dry, cooler, with foggy/frosty mornings.

LONG TERM...Tuesday through Thursday

As we look into the long term and towards the start of 2026, models maintain a ridge over the area through Tuesday/Wednesday, but there remains a fair amount of uncertainty as to when the ridge will break down. The NBM has the ridge breaking down on Tuesday which will bring relatively warmer air along with the next round of precipitation. However, the GFS and ECWMF maintains the ridge through at least Wednesday or Thursday. /42

AVIATION

Current radar, satellite and surface observations show generally VFR conditions across the airspace, with light precipitation slowly moving northward across the airspace. Zooming further out, a second front can be seen slowly moving into the airspace from the northwest. Around 12Z-15Z Friday, expect a mixture of VFR and MVFR conditions with southerly winds becoming more westerly around 18Z Friday for coastal locations and around 00Z Saturday for inland locations as the second front moves southeastward across the airspace. Looks for westerly gusts up to 25 kt along the coast around 22Z Friday. Otherwise winds will be 5 to 10 kt out of the south before becoming westerly.

KPDX AND APPROACHES...VFR/MVFR conditions with light rain showers. Southerly winds less than 10 kt will become westerly around 23Z Friday.

MARINE

A low pressure system off the coast of southern Oregon continues to bring south-southeasterly winds with gusts up to 25 kt across the waters. In addition, a fresh northwesterly swell will result in seas building towards 10 to 12 feet through the early afternoon. Another weak front will move through the waters today, shifting winds more northwesterly Friday morning and increasing in the afternoon with gusts up to 30 kts. Seas also build to 11-15 ft at 10 to 12 sec. As a result, will maintain a Hazardous Seas Warning for all outer water zones and a Small Craft Advisory for all inner waters and the Columbia River Bar through at least Saturday afternoon.

Winds begin decreasing Saturday morning, along with seas slowly subsiding, with conditions falling below Hazardous Seas and Small Craft thresholds by late Saturday afternoon. A ridge of high pressure builds overhead late Saturday into Sunday. Winds decrease to less than 15 kts by Saturday night and seas settle in the 4-6 ft range, continuing into Sunday. /42/10

PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 4 PM PST Saturday for ORZ126>128.

WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 4 PM PST Saturday for WAZ211.

PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 3 PM PST Saturday for PZZ210-251>253.

Hazardous Seas Warning until 3 PM PST Saturday for PZZ271>273.