QuickTake:

Blustery wet weather is rolling through the Willamette Valley this week, and forecasters said a funnel cloud was possible.

The third atmospheric river in a string of storms is sweeping through Eugene and Springfield on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing heavy rain and winds that have caused scattered power outages.

Springfield Utility Board reported about 50 outages early Wednesday afternoon, all of which have since been restored. Forecasters say the strongest winds have already passed, and while blustery weather will continue, it is not expected to be as intense.

Winds on Wednesday were strong enough to raise the possiblity of a funnel cloud or weak tornado, according to the National Weather Service. In the Willamette Valley, tornadoes typically stay on the ground only briefly, said David Bishop, a meteorologist with the Portland office of the weather service.

“We do not get the long-lived, long-track tornadoes of the Midwest,” he said. “Most [here] would be on the ground for a few minutes at best, and typically produce max wind gusts under 100 miles per hour.”

No such funnels were reported.

By late Wednesday evening, steady wind moved through the southern valley with rain, which could total to half to an inch by the end of the week. 

The storm system is part of a moderate to strong atmospheric river that tapered off Wednesday, with another, weaker front arriving Thursday. Showers are likely Friday before conditions dry out for the weekend.

While the atmospheric rivers — a long, narrow band of concentrated moisture that moves through the air – keep coming, the frequency isn’t necessarily unusual, Bishop said. 

“We go through periods where we can have an active fall pattern with a lot of precipitation, and there are times when the fall can be on the relatively dry side,” he said. “It’s not out of the ordinary to get a few back-to-back atmospheric rivers, especially in a more active pattern.”

Atmospheric rivers are a natural part of the water cycle in the Pacific Northwest, often marking the end of wildfire season and helping replenish water supplies. However, their intensity and frequency is projected to change, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Northwest Climate Hub.

Peer-reviewed research shows that as the atmosphere warms, it holds more moisture — and when strong winds drive that moisture inland, it can unleash heavier, faster rainfall, like a sponge being wrung out.

In this round, forecasters say, the rain is beneficial — especially as the Willamette Valley recovers from drought that left soils so hard that moisture once pooled rather than soaked in. This week’s rainfall is helping to saturate the ground.

— Lillian Schrock-Clevenger contributed to this report. 

Ashli Blow brings 12 years of experience in journalism and science writing, focusing on the intersection of issues that impact everyone connected to the land — whether private or public, developed or forested.