Skip to main content
Brace yourself for one more day of wintery gusts, Portland.
According to the National Weather Service Portland, a cold front that moved down from Alberta, Canada is likely to push high-speed, frigid wind though the metro area until around 1 am on Wednesday.
๐๐We have extended the wind advisory for the Portland/Vancouver Metro area until 1 AM Wednesday. ๐๐ Most frequent gusts up to 45 mph will occur in the east Metro nearer the Gorge, but can't rule out periodic gusts 40-45 mph across the rest of the area. #pdxtst #orwx #wawx
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) October 29, 2019
Jon Bonk, an NWS meteorologist, says the weather pattern causing the cold front is "very similar to water filling up the plug in a bath."
"The cold, dense air filled in the Columbia Basin and is looking for the easiest way out," he says. "It's the windiest in the gorge, and some of the cold air is spilling over into the Cascades."
Here it comes. Weโve been talking about colder, windier weather arriving later tonight and Tue, and we can see on our map a continental cold front approaching the region from eastern WA. pic.twitter.com/mdoClvU7Bu
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) October 29, 2019
Bonk adds that the gusts in the metro area should die down by tonight and that most of the cold front will be confined to the gorge.
"We can still expect to see breezy winds [after tonight]," Bonk says, "but nothing too much beyond typical winter wind for the metro area."
NWS predicts wind gusts will reach 45-50 mph. That's still far less than the historic high for October wind gusts in Portland, as the record at the Portland Airport is 88 mph, which occurred during Columbus Day Storm of 1962.