Flash flood, landslide watch issued for parts of central and eastern Oregon

On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch, warning that landslides could occur in central Oregon, the east slopes of the Cascades, the Grande Ronde Valley, the John Day Basin, the northern Blue Mountains, Wallowa County, and Baker County due to heavy rains predicted over slopes scorched by last year’s wildfires.

The watch runs from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

According to Camden Plunkett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton, the advisory primarily targets regions with burn scars, namely in rural areas, U.S. Bureau of Land Management property, and national forestland.

Plunkett predicted that isolated thunderstorms would move into the Oregon Cascades and the Blue Mountains on Thursday afternoon.

According to the National Weather Service advisory, residents in the vicinity of burn scars should be ready for the effects of flooding. Street floods, debris flows, and flash flooding of low-lying areas could all be caused by heavy rainfall.

Bill Burns, an engineering geologist with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, advised locals to keep an eye on weather reports and stay away from the bottoms of steep channel slopes that could be traversed by landslides.

Because wildfires have destroyed all the vegetation that would normally filter water flow, heavy rain over burn scars is particularly harmful, Burns added.

It will run off rather than slowly seeping into the earth, and it is this runoff that can result in debris flows, landslides, and flash flooding, he said.

Check out the National Weather Service’s alerts about geohazards and landslides here.