Weird Weather for Portland, Oregon Coast: Strong Winds but Sunny

Published 02/20/2015

(Oregon Coast) – Some rather odd weather is coming to the Portland area and to the Oregon coast, with fairly windy to heavy windy conditions and yet plenty of sun. (Above: this should make for good white cap waves along the Oregon coast, such as here at Rockaway Beach).

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland said things will get very windy from Saturday night through Monday morning, and yet skies will remain largely clear and sunny along the Oregon coast and inland areas like Portland, southern Washington and Eugene. Gusts in the 20's and 30's will be happening under blue skies at the coast and Portland, while higher elevations and the Gorge could get bursts of up to 50 mph.

The culprit is the east winds, which can get quite forceful, along with an upper ridge keeping any moisture at bay.

So you could theoretically get a suntan while getting knocked around a bit.

“Rather strong east to northeast winds will likely develop Saturday night and continue Sunday night into Monday across the southwest Washington and northwest Oregon,” the NWS said. “The winds will increase late Saturday and Saturday night, reach their peak late Saturday night through Sunday night, then decrease Monday afternoon and evening.”

Wind gusts could reach 50 mph in exposed areas of the Cascades, and 40 to 50 mph in the higher elevations of the Oregon coast range. Gusts up to 60 mph are possible in the western Columbia River Gorge, and around 40 mph for the Portland and Vancouver areas.

The Oregon coast won't get much more than 20 to 30 mph gusts, while sustained winds will be around 10 to 20 mph. But the central Willamette Valley and south valley may get 25 mph gusts.

Meanwhile, the general forecast is still for sizable amounts of sun over the weekend along the Oregon coast.

Saturday will start out cloudy and then open up, with a high around 53. Sunday will live up to its name and Monday will remain clear and bright as well, staying through Tuesday. Winds will calm considerably on the beaches by then. Wednesday will bring clouds and moisture for the rest of the week.

East wind conditions like these should make for good whitecaps along the coast, which will mean excellent photographing conditions when combined with all the sun.

More Oregon weather here. More Oregon coast weather here.

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net
All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted