Today will start warmer with plenty of sunshine until the early afternoon. Temperatures will reach over 30 degrees, and in some areas it could even reach 32 degrees. This will be the warmest day in a week.

We will be tracking a weather system moving northward through Western Oregon this afternoon and evening. It has the strong potential to produce thunderstorms when it encounters a warm, moist air mass. Thunderstorms will likely form or arrive in the southern Willamette Valley by the afternoon, then quickly spread northward into the metropolitan area between 4 and 7 p.m. The evening will be impacted by brief downpours, gusty winds, and lightning. Thunderstorm coverage will be patchy, with some areas potentially experiencing heavy downpours and road flooding, while others may only experience light showers.

In the Cascades, conditions will be more intense, possibly producing severe thunderstorms with heavy hail or damaging winds.

Most weather activity will end after 8 p.m. as the storms move north toward Puget Sound. Another effect of this system will be strong, damaging winds in the eastern Columbia River Gorge and Columbia Basin. Light northeast winds will suddenly shift to the west between 6 and 9 p.m., with gusts of 55-70 mph causing blowing dust.

From Sunday to Tuesday, mainly dry weather with partly cloudy skies is expected. The weather will remain cooler than normal until the end of next week, and no heatwave is expected over the next 10 days.

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