Parts of Northwest Oregon are expected to see heavy rain Thursday and into Friday.

An “atmospheric river” is expected to bring a 50 to 100-mile-wide band of heavy rain to the region.

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“It’s basically a river in the sky,” said Amanda Bowen, with Portland’s National Weather Service. “That’s how much moisture is coming in.”

Recent dry conditions could keep the region from flooding, said Bowen.

“We’ve been quite dry for the past couple of months, so if we had gotten the normal amount of rainfall, we’d see a lot more flooding with this system,” she said. “But because the conditions have been dry recently, there are actually some questions of whether or not there will be any flooding.”

Some rivers could see slight flooding, she said, but that will depend on where exactly the weather system will hit — something NWS is still unsure about.

Wherever the atmospheric river does hit could bring 2 to 4 inches of rain to low elevation areas. Higher elevations could see up to 8 inches.

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