A strong cold front moved through the area, bringing high winds mainly to beaches and headlands. Deep moisture ahead of the front brought heavy rain on December 29th, causing the Grays River near Rosburg to rise above flood stage.
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The episode as NWS PQR wrote it up.
A strong cold front moved through the area, bringing high winds mainly to beaches and headlands. Deep moisture ahead of the front brought heavy rain on December 29th, causing the Grays River near Rosburg to rise above flood stage.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 29, 9:07 AM PST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Portland OR
907 AM PST Fri Dec 29 2017
.SYNOPSIS...A potent Pacific cold front will move across the forecast
area today, bringing another burst of heavy rain and gusty south
winds to much of the forecast area. Snow levels will sharply drop to
around 3000 feet behind the cold front late tonight and Saturday
morning, but moisture dwindles quickly behind the front. High
pressure and offshore flow will bring mainly dry weather this weekend
and early next week, with brisk east winds through the Columbia River
Gorge.
&&
.SHORT TERM...This afternoon through Sunday...Steady rain across the
northern half of the local forecast area is associated with a stalled
frontal zone which is tapping moisture from the tropical latitudes
east of Hawaii, so expect some bouts of heavier rain again today as
the rain pushes south through the area with a cold front. Initially
low flows for the season appear to be helping to mitigate the flood
threat. Also, a break in precip overnight has helped stop fast rises
for rivers draining into the Willamette Valley. However, will allow
the Flood Watch to continue as another burst of heavy rain is
expected later today and hydrologic models still take some rivers at
least close to flood stage. See the Flood Watch for more details.
Today's cold front will also have some wind associated with it.
Support aloft is lacking with the latest NAM/GFS runs showing only
55-60 kt at 850 mb. This should not be enough for winds of 60+ mph at
the coast, so will not issue any wind products. Expect winds to be
gusty inland, but with little impact other than people noticing it's
breezy. Bowen/Weagle
Behind the cold front, snow levels lower to around 3000 ft, but
precipitation will be coming to an end by the time snow levels get
down enough to impact the Cascade Passes. Ski resorts could get a few
inches of snow on the back side of this system, though. Precipitation
will come to an end by Saturday evening. An upper-level ridge starts
to build in on Sunday, turning winds offshore with increasing
easterly winds through the Gorge Sunday. Weagle/McCoy
.LONG TERM...No Changes. Previous discussion follows...Sunday Night
through Thursday...Model consensus is rather solid that the extended
forecast period will begin with dry offshore flow as high pressure
builds another cold pool over the Columbia Basin. East winds will
become brisk through the Gorge, with the 06z GFS already showing
about -8 mb KTTD-KDLS gradients by Monday morning. The cold air may
initially be deep enough for fairly widespread gusty winds early next
week, but it's tough to tell at this point. Occasional runs of the
GFS have tried to undercut our building high pressure ridge for some
light precip at times next week. If this occurs, there would likely
be some precip type issues in the Hood River Valley, Columbia Gorge,
and perhaps even eastern portions of the PDX metro area. However with
any precip likely running into a cold and very dry air mass, it will
be difficult for precip of any consequence to reach the ground. The
ECMWF ensembles have generally been dry, so we kept PoPs well below
climo next week along with seasonably cool temps for the inland
valleys and milder than average temps for much of the higher terrain.
Unfortunately for skiers, once precip dwindles this Saturday it may
be several days before significant snowfall occurs again in the
Cascades. Weagle
&&
.AVIATION...Generally MVFR conditions this morning along the
coast and into the north Willamette Valley, with VFR conditions in
the central and south Willamette Valley. Expect only minor changes
this the morning hours through 20z, before an approaching cold front
spreads more rain inland this afternoon. Should see more widespread
MVFR conditions redeveloping this afternoon after 20z as the rain
spread in, and there are likely to be some pockets of IFR conditions
at times. Between 02z and 08z a cold front moving se through nw
Oregon will change the precipitation over from a stratiform rain to
showers. Flight conditions should generally return to VFR prevailing
behind the cold front, although there will remain a chance for MVFR
or lower conditions at times behind the front after 06z.
PDX AND APPROACHES...MVFR occasionally VFR conditions at the
terminal are likely to persist through 20z. More widespread rain
returns after 20z, with MVFR conditions becoming more dominant
again. with a chance for dropping into IFR category at times between
22z and 06z. A cold front changes precipitation over to showers
around 06z, with prevailing conditions returning to VFR category.
&&
.MARINE...A low pres system in the vicinity of 45N 135W will move
ENE towards the WA coast today, passing by just to the north of the
coastal waters. South winds will increase again during the morning
hours, likely hitting gale force across most of the coastal waters
late in the morning, and continuing until early evening. A cold
front moving through late today will reach the coast likely between
5 and 7 pm, and switch winds around to the west while dropping below
gale force. Seas will increase in response to the winds, building
into the range of 14 to 16 ft by late afternoon and evening, before
subsiding again later tonight.
Wind speeds diminish even more Sat and switch to a north direction
by early Sat afternoon. Offshore flow develops late Sat and
continues for several days. There will be periods of 20-25 kt gusts
across the north waters, especially near the mouth of the Columbia
River and also gaps in coastal terrain.
Seas decrease below 10 feet by 18Z Sat and remain at 4-6 ft through
Tue. Seas are forecast to build near 10 ft around the middle of next
week.
&&
.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Flood Watch through this evening for Central Willamette Valley-
Coast Range of Northwest Oregon-Greater Portland Metro
Area-Lower Columbia-North Oregon Coast-Northern Oregon
Cascade Foothills.
WA...Flood Watch through this evening for Greater Vancouver Area-I-5
Corridor in Cowlitz County-South Washington Cascade
Foothills-South Washington Coast-Willapa Hills.
PZ...Gale Warning until 7 PM PST this evening for Coastal Waters
from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR out 60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar until 4 PM
PST this afternoon.
Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar from midnight
tonight to 4 AM PST Saturday.
&&
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This discussion is for Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington
from the Cascade crest to 60 nautical miles offshore. This area is
commonly referred to as the CWA, or forecast area.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A weather station on Megler Bridge reported winds gusting up to 67 mph. Also, a weather station at Cape Disappointment reported sustained winds up to 47 mph.
The Grays River near Rosburg crested at 13.4 feet around 7 pm, which is 1.4 feet above flood stage. No damage was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2017
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 732945, 732947.