5 to 5 inches of rain over a 48 hour period. Some areas in the Cascades and Cascade Foothills saw 5 to 7 inches of rain over that 48 hour period.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PQR wrote it up.
A particularly strong atmospheric river took aim for the south Willamette Valley, sitting over areas south of Salem for two days, producing anywhere from 2.5 to 5 inches of rain over a 48 hour period. Some areas in the Cascades and Cascade Foothills saw 5 to 7 inches of rain over that 48 hour period. Heavy rain combined with snow melt from all the snow from a few weeks prior in this same area caused flooding along most of our rivers in this area as well as along the main-stem Willamette River up to around Oregon City.
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 Apr 7, 9:51 AM PST, 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...updated
National Weather Service
1051 AM PDT Sun Apr 7 2019
Updated Aviation Discussion
.SYNOPSIS...An atmospheric river event is generating heavy rain
across part of NW Oregon this morning. Rain will continue, heavy at
times through Monday with the location of heavier rain shifting to
the south later this morning. THe prolonged period of rain may
result in flooding of local rivers tonight and Monday, and the heavy
rain may result in urban and small stream flooding. An upper trough
will support showers Monday and Tuesday with snow levels lowering to
near the Cascade passes. Additional fronts are expected Wednesday
and Thursday, with dry weather likely on Friday.
&&
.SHORT TERM...Today through Wednesday...No changes. Previous
discussion follows. An atmospheric river aimed at NW Oregon is
producing widespread rain across the Portland Forecast area this
morning. Shortwaves moving along a band of 1-1.25 inch precipitable
water will stall a moist front across NW Oregon through Monday
afternoon for a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rain.
The highest rain rates so far have been along the north coast and
coast range where 0.25-0.3 inch per hour have been observed with 6-hr
rain totals of 0.5 to 1 inch. Rivers are showing a response to this
heavy rain early this morning with rapid rises observed for the
Santiam, Marys, Clackamas, and the Long Tom Rivers. Besides the
potential for flooding of rivers and small streams, the heavy rain
will cause ponding on the road ways, and vehicles that are travelling
too fast will likely hydroplane and temporarily lose control.
The location of the heavy rain will shift south in the next couple of
hours to the central Oregon coast and the south Willamette Valley.
The rain rates will lessen across SW Washington and extreme NW
Oregon, with possibly a brief break in the rain for the south
Washington coast and the Willapa Hills late this morning. The rain
will then return to the north late this afternoon, but not as heavy
as what is currently being observed. The winds will become more
onshore later this morning favoring the higher terrain for the
heavier rain. All in all, an additional 2 to 5 inches of rain is
expected over the next 24 hours for locations south of Salem, with an
additional 0.5 to 1.5 inches north of Salem. Many rivers will
approach bankfull, and possibly rise above flood stage later today
through Monday morning, and smaller streams and urban flooding is
likely.
An upper trough deepens over the NE Pacific late tonight into Monday
morning and will move the front inland Monday afternoon. However, the
trough will support convective showers and possibly trigger a few
thunderstorms Monday evening, and continue showers through Tuesday
afternoon. Colder air associated with the trough will allow snow
levels to lower down to near or just below the Cascade passes
Tuesday morning, but decreasing showers should limit snow
accumulations. Showers will decrease Tuesday afternoon and night, but
the next shortwave trough drops south from the gulf of Alaska, and
will bring another front to the region Wednesday morning with snow
levels remaining around 3500-4000 feet. ~TJ
.LONG TERM...Wednesday night through Saturday....No changes.
Previous discussion follows. Another shortwave trough follows on the
heels of the last one, bringing more showers Wednesday into
Thursday. High pressure builds in late Thursday into Friday, with
the models finally forecasting a dry period on Friday. This dry
period doesn't last, though, as another shortwave trough brings more
rain in on Saturday. -McCoy
&&
.AVIATION...We will continue to see a variety of flight
conditions today through tonight as we continue to sit under a
very moist, fairly stationary boundary. As the next wave moves in
between 18Z-21Z, expect MVFR/IFR conditions to become more
prevalent at all terminals. Cigs will likely bounce between
VFR/MVFR/IFR all night tonight, but primarily MVFR and IFR as we
continue to see moderate rain, heavy at times. Mountains will
remain obscured through Monday morning. As a low pressure
system moves closer to the south Washington coast tonight, we
will see gusty southerly winds develop at coastal terminals and
in the Willamette Valley. Southerly winds will generally be up
to 15 kt, but a few spots, especially along the coast, could see
gusts up to 25 kt.
KPDX AND APPROACHES...A mix of VFR and MVFR conditions through
midday today and tonight into Monday morning. While predominantly
VFR through 21Z, another wave will bring steady rain back in,
with predominantly MVFR conditions expected after 21Z. Southerly
winds will pick up to around 10 to 15 kt around 07Z and continue
through much of Monday morning. -McCoy
&&
.MARINE...After a lull in winds today, another fast moving low will
move east across the waters tonight, following a track a little
north of the low last night, with the low eventually reaching the
land in southern Washington. This will bring an increase in
southerly winds late tonight to waters south of the low, bringing
gusts up into the 25 to 30 kt range.
Wave heights were down a few feet this morning since midnight, but
likely drop only slowly the rest of today and tonight, then
eventually dropping below 10 feet by monday evening.
Remainder of discussion unchanged...Active weather continues through
the week as we remain under a northwesterly flow pattern.
Disturbances passing through may occasionally increase winds to near
20 kt. Winds should generally remain westerly or northwesterly
through the end of next week. /mh Weishaar
&&
.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Flood Watch through Monday afternoon for Cascade Foothills in
Lane County-Central Coast Range of Western Oregon-Central
Oregon Coast-Central Willamette Valley-Northern Oregon
Cascade Foothills-South Willamette Valley.
Flash Flood Watch through late tonight for Western Columbia
River Gorge.
WA...None.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory for winds from 11 PM this evening to 7 AM
PDT Monday for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to
Cascade Head OR out 60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory for hazardous seas until 6 PM PDT Monday
for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR
out 60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar until 11 PM
PDT this evening.
Small Craft Advisory for winds from 5 PM this afternoon to 7 AM
PDT Monday for Coastal Waters from Cascade Head OR to
Florence OR out 60 NM.
&&
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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 forecast area.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
800 AM PDT SUN APR 7 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0730 AM HEAVY RAIN 1 NW SUMMIT 44.64N 123.58W
04/07/2019 M2.11 INCH BENTON OR TRAINED SPOTTER
25 HOUR TOTAL. 1.57 AS OF 2 AM, 2.11 AS OF
730 AM.
&&
JBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 flood, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Coast Fork of the Willamette River near Goshen crested at 15.9 feet around 9 PM on April 8th, which is 2.9 feet above flood stage. People were evacuated out of the 100-year flood plain.
Oregon Department of Transportation had to close highway 58 due to at least 3 landslides between Lowell and Oakridge. There were other landslides reported around the area as well, along LaDuke Road, Big Fall Creek Road, Winberry Road, and Sweet Creek Road.
The Mohawk River near Springfield crested at 16.9 feet around 11 PM, which is 1.9 feet above flood stage.
The Siuslaw River near Mapleton crested at 19.7 feet around 9:30 AM, which is 1.7 feet above flood stage.
The Long Tom River near Monroe crested at 9.1 feet around 4 PM on April 8th, which is 0.1 foot above flood stage.
The Clackamas river near Estacada crested at 21.0 feet around 5 PM, which is 1 foot above flood stage.
The Santiam River at Jefferson crested at 15.8 feet around 11 PM on April 8th, which is 0.8 foot above flood stage.
The Willamette River near Harrisburg crested at 15.3 feet around 9 AM on April 9th, which is 1.3 feet above flood stage.
A level 3 evacuation was ordered for the 100-year flood plain along the Row River near Cottage Grove. The release of water from the Dorena Reservoir was higher than recorded in the 1996 flood.
The Willamette River near Corvallis crested at 32.8 feet around 9 AM on April 10th, which is 2.8 feet above flood stage.
The Willamette River near Albany crested at 27.3 feet around 10 PM on April 11th, which is 2.3 feet above flood stage.
The Pudding River at Aurora crested at 22.7 feet around 4 AM on April 11th, which is 0.7 foot above flood stage.
The Middle Fork of the Willamette River near Jasper crested at 10.5 feet around 4 am on April 12th, which is 0.5 foot above flood stage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, April 2019
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: 818945, 818925, 818942, 818931, 818946, 818934, 818962, 818947, 818965, 818950, 818949, 818952, 818936.