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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – During the rainy season, we hunt out as much dry time as we can find.

This Wednesday, you may want to tackle the day early because the rain is returning by this evening. That doesn’t sound too bad — but after that, it is expected to rain until Friday.

The morning will be our final window of dry time before the weekend as an atmospheric river takes aim at the region, with heavy periods of rainfall as expected to arrive Wednesday through Saturday. Weather models have forecast up to 1-3 inches around the Willamette Valley, with 2-5 inches along the coastline and 6-12 inches in the north Oregon Cascades, north Coast Range and Willapa Hills.

The National Weather Service in Portland stated rain amounts that high may cause flooding of creeks.

As far as Wednesday’s conditions go, expect mostly cloudy conditions in the morning with areas of patchy fog. There may be a thin enough bank of clouds to show off a fleeting moment of sun. I wouldn’t count on much sunshine today unless you’re out near Pendleton. It should be overcast in Portland by early afternoon and the rain won’t be far behind.

The futurecast has light rain sweeping in from the south by 2 p.m., arriving in Portland later in the afternoon. Locations through Lincoln, Benton and Polk counties will likely see rain first. That moisture engulfs the Willamette Valley by evening, leaving most neighborhoods wet.

Snow levels will start to jump as a warmer air mass moves in. We are still expecting snow, but the snow levels will be above the passes. It will make travel through the bends of the mountains slick and vulnerable to hydroplaning. It will still be cool enough to the north for the Washington Cascades at this time of the event.

The thunderstorm threat will not be as active as Tuesday, but we can’t rule out a few downpours. If you swipe through the graphics, you can see the river of moisture coming up from Hawaii by Wednesday night. That is going to be the plume that keeps us pretty soaked as we wrap up the week.

Morning clouds will keep temperatures around the lower to mid-40s. Cooler in Central Oregon, with a morning low of 39 degrees out of Madras. It will be our viewers out in Baker City that will have to work through the coldest air to start the day. If you’re waking up for a morning jog or a trip to get coffee out at the coast, it will be in the mid-40s. Most locations are to average by the afternoon, topping off in the lower to mid-50s.

There will not be any massive swings in temperature today. We will warm up, at best, 10 degrees by the second part of the day. We will be pushing 60 by the time Thursday and Friday come around.