On This Day In History...Major Weather Events in the PNW or West

[TigerWoodsLibido 5630]

It was pretty amazing up here with both duration and snowfall as well as temps...no so much down there?

Eugene had a small amount of snow going into the event from the 14-16 then warmed above freezing and it was business as usual for the rest of the winter. 13-14 and 16-17 were far better here.

[MossMan 10604]

WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-

EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-

EVERETT AND VICINITY-SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-

ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-

435 AM PST THU DEC 27 2007

 

...SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST THIS

AFTERNOON...

 

A SNOW ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF THE INTERIOR WESTERN WASHINGTON

LOWLANDS REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON.

 

LIGHT SNOW BEGAN FALLING IN THE HOOD CANAL AREA AROUND 3 AM...AND

IT WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS

MORNING. THE SNOW MIGHT BE MIXED WITH RAIN INITIALLY WITH MINIMAL

ACCUMULATIONS.

 

HOWEVER...THE SNOW WILL INCREASE LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON

WITH SOME SNOW ACCUMULATION LIKELY. SNOWFALL WILL CONTINUE UNTIL

THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS EVENING...WHEN IT WILL CHANGE TO

MIXED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS AND EVENTUALLY JUST SCATTERED RAIN

SHOWERS.

 

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD GENERALLY RANGE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES OVER

MOST OF THE ADVISORY AREA WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OVER THE

HILLS. THE HOOD CANAL AREA WILL RECEIVE A BIT MORE WITH 2 TO 4

INCHES EXPECTED AND AGAIN POSSIBLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OVER HILLTOPS.

 

A SNOW ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY

TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND

LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

[Deweydog 14109]

It snowed at our house 15 years ago today.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

It snowed at our house 15 years ago today.

 

12/29/03 was a major snow event in the Central Willamette Valley. Places west of Salem got 8-12". Salem had about 5-8" across the city. Out in Silverton we had 4.5", about 5 miles to the north the snow line cut off between Mt. Angel and Woodburn.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

Found this handwritten paper with the weather stats I recorded on my Dad's farm down in Silverton from December 2008. Looks like we had 15.5" with that. As you can see by the temps we were on the southern edge of the cold air/snow. Some places further north did better, but it was fun. 

 

[BLI snowman 6804]

Fun, fun times 50 years ago. The 14 at PDX was a midnight high, temps fell as blizzard conditions set in.

 

https://english.wunderground.com/history/airport/KPDX/1968/12/30/DailyHistory.html

[Deweydog 14109]

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[Deweydog 14109]

15 years ago today it snowed at our house AGAIN.

[Timmy_Supercell 2224]

2 years ago, I would think a 24 year snowstorm deserves a post here!

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131173880@N03/sets/72157702022605672?fbclid=IwAR13ZwaI6JQgq4FyRMzm_of-GxHUusyKBFLPEkZIYMye58u31aLlhhZ-bmM

[TigerWoodsLibido 5630]

2 years ago, I would think a 24 year snowstorm deserves a post here!

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131173880@N03/sets/72157702022605672?fbclid=IwAR13ZwaI6JQgq4FyRMzm_of-GxHUusyKBFLPEkZIYMye58u31aLlhhZ-bmM

Wish I could have been in Springfield when this one hit. Was in Monmouth which had only 7” or so for the winter, lowest in the valley. Haven’t experienced an event of over 4” since Feb 2014. Great pics.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

Medford picked up a single day record 8.3" of snow two years ago today. Two days later with deep snow cover they would post an impressive 28/9 day. Later in the month the cold didn't penetrate into SW Oregon, so this event was their winter highlight. 

 

[Deweydog 14109]

15 years ago right now it was NOT T-shirt weather.

[Deweydog 14109]

15 years ago right now it was getting AWFULLY icy out there...

[Timmy_Supercell 2224]

2 years ago it was -19 degrees (with a ground pack of over 18"). That was the 5th coldest temperature at KLMT with records going back to at least around the WWII era.

 

The next day it snowed an additional 5 inches and I measured a total of 21.00" with my yard stick.

[Deweydog 14109]

14 years ago right now the models were KRAZY kold!

[BLI snowman 6804]

14 years ago right now the models were KRAZY kold!

110 years ago right now it WAS krazy kold!!

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

15 years ago today did not suck.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

On this date in 2017 a very overlooked snow event hit the Willamette Valley. It was not as significant in Salem as 12/14/16 and much less interesting than 1/10/17 at PDX, but it was the most widespread event of that winter in the valley. And thankfully the major airport stations actually measured snow that day!

 

EUG: 4.5"

SLE: 3.0"

PDX: 0.4"

 

I think a lot of the south and west metro had 1-3" with the event though so the PDX number I don't think is representative of a lot of places in the metro with that. 

[TigerWoodsLibido 5630]

On this date in 2017 a very overlooked snow event hit the Willamette Valley. It was not as significant in Salem as 12/14/16 and much less interesting than 1/10/17 at PDX, but it was the most widespread event of that winter in the valley. And thankfully the major airport stations actually measured snow that day!

 

EUG: 4.5"

SLE: 3.0"

PDX: 0.4"

 

I think a lot of the south and west metro had 1-3" with the event though so the PDX number I don't think is representative of a lot of places in the metro with that.

Was expected to be an icing event but the east winds had a good enough cold air dam to keep 850s right at freezing for that one.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

Was expected to be an icing event but the east winds had a good enough cold air dam to keep 850s right at freezing for that one.

 

Yeah I remember it was supposed to be ZR south of Albany, but was snow from Eugene north instead. Cold air was much more well established than people expected.

[Brian_in_Leavenworth 2951]

Good article with a short documentary about January 1950, and it even has some color video from 1950.  All from Tacoma.

 

https://tacomahistory.live/2019/01/07/unforeseen/

[Front Ranger 7604]

Good article with a short documentary about January 1950, and it even has some color video from 1950.  All from Tacoma.

 

https://tacomahistory.live/2019/01/07/unforeseen/

 

Cool little video. Of course, the cold/snow was not actually over by the 20th as the video implies...

[Deweydog 14109]

Two years ago right now the models were being scrutinized VERY closely.

 

And Bryant was in a pissy mood.

[BLI snowman 6804]

Cool little video. Of course, the cold/snow was not actually over by the 20th as the video implies...

 

Yeah, a bit of a mischaracterization of 1949-50. The winter had already been cold and snowy before mid January and continued to be after the 20th.

[Front Ranger 7604]

Yeah, a bit of a mischaracterization of 1949-50. The winter had already been cold and snowy before mid January and continued to be after the 20th.

 

McMillan Reservoir just east of Tacoma also saw:

 

- a 5" snowstorm in mid December, along with another minor snowfall

- a 4" snowstorm around New Years, with a couple smaller snowfalls the following week

- a 6" snowstorm the last week of the month and another smaller snowfall

 

But the 16" blizzard that brought a 15/5 day obviously blew the rest of those events away. 

[Timmy_Supercell 2224]

"Twister rips up Clark County" - The Oregonian, issued January 11 2008. 

 

[Front Ranger 7604]

January 11-12, 1963 Denver was below 0 for about 36 hours straight. The airport bottomed out at -25, which ties 2/1/1951 as the coldest temp in the modern era.

[Deweydog 14109]

Severe clear out there!

 

Reminds me of two years ago but the ground cover is different. (ugh)

[TigerWoodsLibido 5630]

Severe clear out there!

 

Reminds me of two years ago but the ground cover is different. (ugh)

 

Not here. We had cold rain and it was infuriating. We had 2 sub-freezing highs out of it somehow though. Also had the event on the 7th which dropped a few inches that missed the n and c valley.

[Deweydog 14109]

Not here. We had cold rain and it was infuriating. We had 2 sub-freezing highs out of it somehow though. Also had the event on the 7th which dropped a few inches that missed the n and c valley.

Tell us more!!!

[Timmy_Supercell 2224]

(01/19/2016)

3 years ago on this date one of the rarest convective events occurred at my place. A squall line thunderstorm formed off the SW Oregon coast, and instead of breaking apart around the Rogue Valley or west slopes like they normally do, the storm continued and actually strengthened over the cascades. A 67mph gust at KLMT (about 12:30pm) triggered a Severe Warning for it. I had half inch size hail with some decent thunder/lightning at my house. A few booms sounded maybe a mile or two away This was a couple weeks before I got my HD cameras, otherwise I would have gotten some good footage on that.

 

There was still snow pack on the mountains when this storm strengthened and it was only 40 degrees in Klamath Falls at the time this occurred (the outflow winds cooled it to upper 30's!). Even a little leftover snow in my yard as well during this storm, I thought that was interesting and new.

 

In the months of Dec/Jan/Feb, t'storms are almost impossible to occur in Klamath Falls. Going back to at least 1980; I find only 1 in December, 0 in January, 1 in February. However, many more can be found in locations west of the mountains in the winter season. Even in November I believe there have only been a couple of t'storm occurrences at KLMT last 40+ years. My 2nd earliest t'storm since 2010 is March 22nd in 2015. And usually my latest t'storm is in September.

[Deweydog 14109]

Got pretty windy for some 26 years ago today. Nine years later kl2 was born.

[Omegaraptor 2387]

On this day in 1954, the famous -70ºF at Rogers Pass, MT that probably didn't happen was recorded.

[Deweydog 14109]

30 years ago right now we still had no clue what was coming.

[BLI snowman 6804]

50 years ago was quite lovely for every PNW member's location!

[Deweydog 14109]

I almost got hit by a truck 30 years ago today.

[Front Ranger 7604]

I almost got hit by a truck 30 years ago today.

I feel like winter events are closely associated with accidents or near accidents with you.

[Deweydog 14109]

I feel like winter events are closely associated with accidents or near accidents with you.

They’re inherently dangerous.

[Scott 358]

Today is the anniversary of the coldest temperatures recorded in Utah and Colorado.

 

2/1/1985

 

-61 at Maybell

-69.3 at Peters Sink

[Deweydog 14109]

30 years ago right now it was like a 384 hour 72 hour extrapolation outside.

[jakeinthevalley 564]

30 years ago, baseball practice was held inside the auxiliary fieldhouse because it was about 15F and about a foot of snow on the ground in Monmouth.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

30 years ago, baseball practice was held inside the auxiliary fieldhouse because it was about 15F and about a foot of snow on the ground in Monmouth.

 

I was prepping a big write up on this event and then got distracted by the current goodies. A totally amazing event. It was the last time SLE had a sub-zero low. It amazes me this event and December 1990 happened so close together.

[jakeinthevalley 564]

I was prepping a big write up on this event and then got distracted by the current goodies. A totally amazing event. It was the last time SLE had a sub-zero low. It amazes me this event and December 1990 happened so close together.

Yeah, we didn't quite fall below zero in Monmouth. I think the lowest I had was 4F. We did have a high of 12F one day though.

 

Best part of that was later in March we were scheduled to play up at UW but the weekend series was cancelled at the last minute because, well, Seattle had about a foot of snow. I think we played 3 games total before we went South over spring break to play San Diego State.

[wx_statman 2469]

February 1936. Initial cold shot on the 7th-9th brought -34 to Newport in eastern WA, and subzero cold to Whatcom Co. Readings included -9 in Blaine and -1 in Clearbrook. The mid-month shot once again dropped eastern WA to -34 (at Republic on the 14th, and also -30 at Deer Park on the 15th). PDX stayed frozen for a week straight, including a maximum of 24 on the 17th. Readings in the mid-month airmass were actually colder in parts of the central Sound compared to the initial airmass, including 12 in Puyallup and -11 at Snoqualmie Pass. 

[Requiem 2648]

Weird that no one has posted this, but yesterday and today mark the 23rd anniversary of the Willamette Valley Flood of 1996. Wicked winter weather, followed by a period of some of the strongest east winds recorded at PDX, were subsequently followed (in disastrous fashion) by a major pineapple express which brought feet of rain in some areas over a few day long period. 8 were killed, numerous buildings were damaged by the floodwaters.

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

It is the 26th anniversary of the big 2/19/93 snow event in the Willamette Valley. Here are some totals from that day. Many of these locations picked up another 1-3" in the days that followed. 

 

Salem 12"

Corvallis 12"

PDX Downtown 7.5"

PDX 6.1"

EUG 5.7"

[wx_statman 2469]

It is the 26th anniversary of the big 2/19/93 snow event in the Willamette Valley. Here are some totals from that day. Many of these locations picked up another 1-3" in the days that followed. 

 

Salem 12"

Corvallis 12"

PDX Downtown 7.5"

PDX 6.1"

EUG 5.7"

 

I had a lot of snow that day in Canby as well. I was too little to accurately gauge the depth, but it was probably 10". Spent all day outside playing in it. 

[SilverFallsAndrew 14915]

I had a lot of snow that day in Canby as well. I was too little to accurately gauge the depth, but it was probably 10". Spent all day outside playing in it. 

 

I remember we went into a dry cool pattern afterwards so the snow stuck around in the shade for quite a while. It was a great capstone to what was easily the best winter of my childhood in the Willamette Valley.

[wx_statman 2469]

I remember we went into a dry cool pattern afterwards so the snow stuck around in the shade for quite a while. It was a great capstone to what was easily the best winter of my childhood in the Willamette Valley.

 

For sure. That winter was great in Canby, and it was also my first in this region. Gave me an unrealistic expectation for this climate zone. 

[wx_statman 2469]

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Mount Shasta storm (the ending anyway). 

 

From February 13-19, 1959 a single storm dropped 189" on Mount Shasta Ski Bowl, which I believe is still a world record. The daily obs mid-month were insane (attached).

 

Also, the abstract here provides a nice overview of the synoptic setup:

 

https://works.bepress.com/stephen_underwood/31/