After about a week of quiet weather, a new series of snowstorms will soon come back to the mountains of the northwestern U.S. and southwestern Canada.
A sequence of storms dumped 6 to 8 feet of snowfall in some parts of the region during the last week of February. The impending storms probably won’t produce that much. However, truckers will still have to chain up at times, hitting temporary delays over the next seven days.
The first round of snowfall will begin Friday afternoon or evening. When all is said and done with this extended event, snowfall totals could approach 36 inches in the higher elevations of the Cascades in Washington, Oregon and northern California, as well as the Sierra Nevada. Isolated higher totals are possible. Some of the storms will produce gusty winds, leading to occasional blowing snow and whiteout conditions.
The usual problem spots for drivers include but are not limited to Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens Pass, Donner Pass, Carson Pass, McKenzie Pass and the Mount Shasta region.
Main interstates within the potential impact zone include I-5, I-80, I-84 and I-90, as well as U.S. highways 2, 12, 26, 50, 97, 199 and 395.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall will drench valleys and lower elevations of the Northwest, with totals of up to 4 inches. The heaviest rainfall will likely hit from I-5 to the coast, including Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Additionally, the heavier rainfall may cause localized higher impacts due to flooding and mudslides, also impacting U.S. Highway 101.
Other notable weather
The risk of rollovers continues Friday in far northern California and southern Oregon. Gusts of 50 to 70 mph will impact drivers on sections of I-5, from Weed, California, to Medford, Oregon, in addition to portions of U.S. Highway 395 and some state routes through Sprague River and Valley Falls, Oregon. Closer to the West Coast, winds will be rough along U.S. Highway 101, from the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area southward to Camp Klamath, California.
Look for some showers and thunderstorms Friday and Saturday across the Gulf Coast, with potentially heavy rainfall and strong winds in the Midwest by the middle of next week.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
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