Wind gusts hit 80 mph per hour on the Oregon Coast where a Gale Warning and High Surf Warning remained in effect through Friday afternoon and an avalanche warning has been issued for the Mount Hood area and northern Cascades.
In Portland Friday morning, wind blew over a tree near the intersection of NE Broadway and Burnside, but thankfully, no one was injured.
The weather late Thursday and Friday on the Coast was wild, with one gust hitting 80 mph, said KGW meteorologist Nick Allard. Newport had 3.5 inches of rain in 24 hours. Astoria had a record. 1.4 inches of rain. A Gale Warning was expected to be in place until mid-afternoon.
The wind found its way over the Coast Range, he said, with a 37 mph gust recorded at Aurora and 28 mph at the airport but the metro area largely missed any severe winds.
Along with a Gale Warning at the coast, the National Weather Service has issued a High Surf Warning through the afternoon Friday. The warning equates to dangerous riptides and unpredictable wave patterns, with suprising surges that run higher up the beach.
Allard said the snow level in the Cascades might drop as low as 1,500 feet Friday evening but flakes should hit at 2,000 feet.
An Avalanche Warning was in place until noon Friday for the Mount Hood area, the northern Cascades and the Olympics. Thick snow or rain was expected to fall on already weak shelves of snow. Ridgetops were especially vulnerable.
