The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch starting Monday as heavy rain early next week could swell Willamette River tributaries.

The Willamette Valley could see up to seven inches of rain between Monday and Wednesday, the service reported Saturday. The flood watch will take effect at 4 a.m. Monday, Dec. 8, through 4 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12.

Colby Neuman, a meteorologist in the Portland NWS office, said the region has an 80% chance of seeing two to seven inches between Monday and Wednesday. The heaviest rainfall will likely come on Monday, Neuman said, adding that “this is not a normal winter storm.”

“If we were to get seven in three days, that is in the upper echelon of what we’ve seen in the last, really, 50 to 100 years,” he said.

Modest rain will continue through Satu

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