Weather, Traffic Alerts for Washington Coast, Oregon Coast; Elevated Fire Dangers

Updated 07/15/23 at 7:21 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Manzanita, Oregon) – A variety of warnings and advisories are in place in Oregon, Washington and the coastlines, for both weather and travel issues. Fire dangers are greatly elevated in all Oregon forests right now, there are a variety of heat advisories in both states and some major traffic issues are to be expected on the Columbia River and where the north Oregon coast and south Washington coast meet. (Above: photo Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

The central Oregon Coast Range is under a gnarly heat advisory for the rest of Saturday, with high temps up to 102 possible. The heat advisory ends later Saturday night, and Sunday cools down considerably in areas just outside of Lincoln City down through Yachats.

The beaches, meanwhile, stay in and around the 60s.

Most inland areas in western Oregon also have such advisories along with elevated fire dangers, including Portland, Eugene and Ashland.

A similar heat advisory is in effect for the lower parts of the southern Oregon coast, where eastern Coos County will see some excessive heat. However, areas like Gold Beach or Brookings linger in the balmy and comfortable 70s.

Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather

There are various red flag warnings around much of Oregon. The Siuslaw National Forest says all its areas are in the in high fire danger category at the moment, which includes most forestlands along the Oregon coast and the Coast Range.

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Be prepared for more traffic along the Astoria-Megler Bridge at Astoria, as the Lewis and Clark Bridge near Longview, Washington gets shut down for eight days, leaving this north Oregon coast bridge one of two closest routes across the Columbia River west of Portland. It's expected to affect traffic on the southern Washington coast quite a bit.

According to ODOT, the Lewis and Clark Bridge closes on Sunday, July 16 for repairs.

Lewis and Clark Bridge, courtesy ODOT

“The 93-year-old Lewis and Clark Bridge is the only span across the Columbia River between the Astoria-Megler Bridge near the mouth of the river and the Interstate Bridge between Portland and Vancouver,” ODOT said. “The closure may create hardships for communities along the Columbia River in Clatsop and Columbia counties in Oregon and require residents to plan ahead for important appointments.”

ODOT said an alternative on the Washington coast might be the Wahkiakum County Ferry between Westport and Cathlamet, Washington, which will run twice an hour, 24 hours a day while the bridge is closed. The ferry has extremely limited capacity and should be reserved for urgent matters that do not require an ambulance. Travelers choosing the ferry should expect lengthy wait times. See the project website for more

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Brookings, courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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