Winter Weather Timeline: Snow, ice on the way, start preparing now

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — All eyes are on Thursday and Friday for impactful winter weather returning to Portland. Unlike last week, we have a much colder setup around the region to allow for snow showers to develop and stick on city roads.

Thursday Timeline

As the next frontal system approaches tomorrow, snow showers may begin sometime in the morning to midday, moving in from south to north up the valley.

Weather models show a range of possible snow amounts on Thursday. The Portland and Vancouver metro areas could see as little as a dusting, in the best-case scenario, to about an inch or two, in the worst-case scenario through tomorrow afternoon.

With the frigid cold and low dewpoints, the air in Portland will be very dry. With that, there's a chance that the snow falling is a fine powdery type that has a hard time sticking to roadways.

Still plan for impacts as the moisture moves in through midday. We'll see breaks in the snow showers with some dry time heading into Thursday evening.

Friday Timeline

Another round of showers will return into the overnight and morning hours on Friday, bringing back a wintry mix of snow, freezing rain, and sleet potential into the metro area.

Due to the frigid temps still filtering into the Portland area from the gorge, the area will still be primed for more snowfall accumulations. Some forecast models show an additional 1 to 3 inches of snowfall possible in Portland come the morning time. It's a possibility that the city wakes up to snowy roadways and more impactful snow than what we see on Thursday.

Portions of the central Willamette Valley, just south of the Portland area, may see bigger impacts from icing as a wintry mix of freezing rain or sleet develops. Total ice accumulations in the valley could amount to 0.1 to 0.25 inches by Friday morning.

Icing amounts look light for the bulk of the metro area, less than a tenth of an inch is expected on roadways, and may be spotty in nature. But a light glaze of ice will make the roads slick, especially if that settles on top of any lingering snow.

Plan Ahead & Stay Tuned to the Forecast

The total snowfall in Portland in this incoming round of winter weather could still adjust as more weather data comes in today. It would be wise to prep for the worst-case scenario, and that could be inches of snow blanketing much of Portland by Friday morning.

In all, expect impacts to roadways around the metro area starting Thursday morning through Friday.

A break in moisture and milder temps on Saturday help thaw out the area. Rainfall and temperatures return to the 50s by Sunday and President's Day in Portland.

Be sure to keep an eye on the forecast with the KOIN 6 Weather Team.