{"id":365788,"date":"2025-12-23T16:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/365788\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T16:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:10:16","slug":"oregon-sw-washington-brace-for-a-possible-windstorm-on-christmas-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/365788\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon, SW Washington brace for a possible windstorm on Christmas Eve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FDGKFSI4E5HPLGQAKNSJJWJAFE.jpg\" alt=\"A car is crushed by a fallen tree on Northeast 24th Avenue on Wednesday, Dec. 17., 2025 in Portland.\" class=\"width_full\" style=\"aspect-ratio:5063 \/ 3375;width:100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A car is crushed by a fallen tree on Northeast 24th Avenue on Wednesday, Dec. 17., 2025 in Portland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__image-by color_dgray f_s_xxs m-none\">Saskia Hatvany \/ OPB<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">A windstorm packing gusts of up to 70 mph could hit western Oregon and Southwest Washington on Christmas Eve, triggering power outages and downing trees, forecasters and electric utilities warned Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Forecasters with the National Weather Service are closely monitoring the windstorm as it moves up the coast, but say it\u2019s still too early to predict exactly how strong those winds will be on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Gusts of 50 miles per hour to as high as 70 mph could pass through much of western Oregon and Southwest Washington between 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">While there is still a lot of uncertainty around the windstorm, now is the time for residents to get ready, said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">\u201cPeople should take precautions such as securing any outdoor decorations, garbage bins, and be prepared for the potential for some localized power outages or tree damage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Farther south, two winter storms will bring snow and rain to Southern Oregon and Northern California this week, just in time for holiday travel. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">California\u2019s Siskiyou County will get the brunt of the storms, particularly at higher elevations, starting Tuesday and lasting through Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Heavy snow is expected on mountain passes over 4,500 feet of elevation, and some snow could fall on Interstate 5 in the area around California\u2019s Mount Shasta on Friday as the snow level drops, according to the forecast.<\/p>\n<p>Winds not certain, but experts urge people to prepare<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Although there\u2019s only a 30% to 35% chance of a serious windstorm according to National Weather Service forecasts, meteorologists say people should brace for the possibility of downed power lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Portland General Electric urged residents to <a href=\"https:\/\/portlandgeneral.com\/outages-safety\/be-prepared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/portlandgeneral.com\/outages-safety\/be-prepared\">prepare <\/a>an outage plan and get emergency kits ready in case the power goes out. The utility company is also warning people of potential weather hazards like downed power lines. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">\u201cYou should always assume they are alive,\u201d John Farmer, a spokesperson with PGE, said. \u201cYou should never go near them. Don\u2019t touch them. Don\u2019t use a stick or a branch to move. Just stay away.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Following the heavy rains that pummeled the region last week, the National Weather Service also warns that soils across the state are still very saturated. That, combined with gusty winds, could knock over weakened trees and branches. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">Mindy McCartt, a spokesperson with the Oregon Department of Transportation, said its crews are still working to clear up debris left behind by last week\u2019s storms. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">\u201cCrews will continue cleanup from the previous storms while also preparing and staffing up for the next potential event,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the storm hits as forecast, maintenance crews will be ready to respond as soon as conditions allow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">McCartt says people who are planning to hit the road this holiday week should take extra precautions. She also recommends checking road conditions before heading out for possible closures or delays. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-body__text article-body--padding color_dgray m-none\">National Weather Service staff also urged holiday travelers to take caution. If high winds arrive, gusts could be enough to make driving dangerous, especially for high profile vehicles, the agency said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A car is crushed by a fallen tree on Northeast 24th Avenue on Wednesday, Dec. 17., 2025 in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,179900,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-365788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-christmas-oregon-southwest-washington-wind-storms-national-weather-service-weather","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}