A peek at the future?
A peek at the future? Mercury Staff

UPDATE SAT FEB 9, NOON:
Downtown Portland got lucky last night and missed a good deal of the snow that struck outlying areas, and it looks like previous blizzard fears are now fading away... unfortunately not before last night's grocery store panic! In any case, the National Weather Service is now predicting a scant total of one inch of snow today—SO GO SEE YOUR SHOWS TONIGHT! A puny half inch of snow is expected tomorrow which will turn to rain on Monday... so it looks like our city-wide panic has passed. The good news? You got your grocery shopping done!

UPDATE FRI FEB 8, 6 PM:
The National Weather Service has updated their prediction for this weekend, and... hoo boy, we could be in for a verrrrry interesting Monday and Tuesday! They're now predicting a slightly bigger snowfall for tonight (Friday) with an expectation of 1-3 inches with an additional inch or so tomorrow. Saturday night and Sunday daytime will be largely uneventful, but we may be seeing a slightly bigger dump late Sunday night with 3-5 inches followed on Monday by 3-5 additional inches, which could be followed AGAIN on Monday night with 2-4 inches. WOW! Obviously these are just predictions, and we could get much less... but make sure you're stocked up on booze just in case, and stay tuned!

UPDATE FRI FEB 8, 8:30 AM:
The National Weather Service is pretty much sticking to their original story—which is expect snow flurries after 10 pm tonight, and then 1-3 inches of snow during the day on Saturday. HOWEVER! Sunday/Monday is looking much snowier than previously expected, with a prediction of 2-4 inches on Sunday night, followed by a possibility of 1-3 inches on Monday. THAT COULD REALLY PILE UP, so make your early week plans now! (And stay tuned for more updates.)

ORIGINAL POST:
Whispers of a big weekend snow dump have been swirling around since early in the week, and now that we're closer, the National Weather Service is ready to make some predictions—and the answer is YES, WE'RE MOST LIKELY GONNA GET SOME SNOW.

In fact, it looks like the beginning of the snow drop will begin tonight (Thursday) at around 10 pm—but don't expect much in the way of accumulation. From the National Weather Service Portland:

Tonight: A 20 percent chance of snow after 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

There's the possibility of some snow on the roads tomorrow (Friday) morning, but at this point it's not looking like much of a problem for your commute. Be sure to check in before hitting the road or hopping on Trimet. Light snow showers will turn to rain in the afternoon, and if it happens, the snow will hit the fan beginning around 10 pm Friday night.

Friday Night: Rain before 10pm, then snow. Low around 31. South southeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

The snow is expected to continue into Saturday morning, adding perhaps another inch during the day, and then tapering off into the evening. Sunday is expected to be sunny and cold with a high of 35.

We may be seeing more threats of snow showers early next week, but let's just get through the weekend okay? Plan ahead, and if I have any advice to give, it's this: GET YOUR SLED READY NOW.