Updated 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025
No emergency shelters open, thresholds not met
Open today/tonight:
- Multnomah County and the City of Portland’s nearly 3,000 year-round shelter beds and 200 winter-only overnight shelter beds.
Not open tonight:
- Emergency severe weather shelters.
The weather forecast for Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, will not meet thresholds to open severe weather shelters.
Local officials use these thresholds — in consultation with National Weather Service experts, County Emergency Management, the Health Department, County Human Services, the Department of Homeless Services (formerly the Joint Office of Homeless Services) and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management — to activate emergency severe weather shelter plans.
Anyone seeking shelter should contact 211info by dialing 2-1-1 or 1-866-698-6155. 211info staff are available to identify shelters and warming spaces in Multnomah County 24/7, along with transportation options.
To find daytime warming spaces open today, including Multnomah County Library branches, please see this interactive map. During severe weather events, the map will also include activated shelter locations in addition to non-shelter spaces where people can find respite.
If you are concerned about someone you see during colder conditions, such as an individual who is not dressed for the weather conditions, call the non-emergency response line at 503-823-3333 and request a welfare check.
If someone is unsheltered and their life appears to be in danger, call 9-1-1 for medical attention.
On Feb. 10, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson declared a state of emergency due to the winter weather. The County opened severe weather shelters — adding locations as conditions worsened — and with the City of Portland’s two seasonal shelters, offered respite at 10 sites to more than 900 people. The County will be reporting the full details of the emergency activation as soon as the teams return to normal duties.
To all who volunteered and worked in the shelters — thank you!
Severe weather thresholds for opening emergency shelter
County staff monitor weather conditions and other factors, including temperature fluctuations, precipitation, windchill and emergency department visits for hypothermia. Once forecasts show the potential for thresholds to be met, officials meet daily to discuss those weather conditions — consulting with Emergency Management, Health Department, County Human Services and Joint Office experts — and then jointly decide on shelter plans as needed.
Severe weather shelters open as needed when any of the following thresholds are met for any one of the conditions below that are forecasted to persist for four (4) hours or more between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- Forecast temperature of 25° F (-4° C) or below
- Forecast temperature at or below 32° F (0° C) with 1 inch or more of rain and with sustained winds greater than 10 mph overnight
- Forecast snow accumulation of 1 inch (25 mm) or more over a 24-hour period
The County’s Chief Operating Officer or their designee may consider other conditions or circumstances during a severe weather event that could increase the risk to the community and activate elements included in this standard operating procedure.
The basic thresholds the County uses were first developed and used by the City of Portland, before the Joint Office of Homeless Services was created, when the City served as the lead agency providing severe weather shelter for adults experiencing homelessness. The County has since expanded the thresholds and added a separate cold weather response on nights when thresholds aren’t met.
Cold weather alerts for enhanced outreach
Even when severe weather thresholds aren't met, the Department of Homeless Services (formerly the Joint Office of Homeless Services) may issue a “cold weather alert” as cold and wet conditions warrant. This activates enhanced outreach. Cold weather alerts do not activate the County’s response to open severe weather beds at additional warming shelters.
During enhanced outreach, providers conduct additional and focused outreach to find vulnerable people, and they can quickly obtain and distribute cold weather gear from the Joint Office supply distribution center. Providers will also step up coordination to share information on resources and available shelter. Overflow shelter capacity will be made available to outreach workers, who can refer people in need.
The following conditions lasting for four (4) or more hours overnight activate the highest level of enhanced outreach. In some cases, thresholds may be met only in certain zones; enhanced outreach can be specific to those zones.
- Temperatures forecast to reach 32 degrees or below, without precipitation
- Windchills forecast to reach 25 degrees or below, without precipitation
- Temperatures forecast to reach 34 degrees or below, alongside precipitation of more than one tenth of an inch.
Beyond shelters, other work ongoing to support the community
The Department of Homeless Services, (formerly the Joint Office of Homeless Services) has conducted an unprecedented activation that started Jan. 10. During enhanced outreach, the Joint Office divides the County into zones and works with nonprofit providers and community groups to make sure each zone has one or more teams checking on people without shelter and delivering life-safety supplies, including warm clothing, blankets and hand warmers. During shelter activations, outreach groups also share information about locations, hours and transportation options.
Although final tallies are still being compiled and will be updated, since Jan. 10, the Joint Office, through its coordinated outreach program, distributed at least:
- 6,100 hand warmers
- 1,224 hoodies
- 1,224 pairs of sweatpants
- 6,100 ponchos
- 3,660 warm hats
- 3,660 pairs of warm gloves
- 7,320 pairs of socks
- 6,154 wool blankets
- 5,790 tarps
- 1,088 tents
- 1,094 sleeping bags
- 6,100 mylar blankets
- 113,548 bottles of water.
