National Weather Service Issues Flood Watch for Gresham, Northwest Oregon

When it comes to this coming week's forecast, there's good news and bad news for Gresham-area residents.

On the upside, that's where temps are headed — above freezing with highs as warm as 46 degrees predicted by midweek. The downside? The warmer weather will not only lead to rain, but melting snow. Those factors spurred meteorologists Sunday to issue a flood watch through Thursday.

"Flooding (is) possible Tuesday through Thursday for most of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington," said an alert from the National Weather Service. "Periods of heavy rain combines with (a) snow melt Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night will cause sharp rises on several rivers and creeks..."

In addition to river flooding, urban flooding is possible in areas where snow and ice are blocking storm drains. The heaviest rainfall — 4 to 8 inches — is predicted along Oregon's coast and coast range and Washington's Willapa Hills area to the Cascades.