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White Christmas History of the PNW


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In honor of the upcoming holiday, I wanted to do a historical recap of all the white Christmas' that I know of in the PNW (western OR, WA and SW BC). I would love more concrete info from the 19th century years, it appears that there were some great ones back then.

 

First in the airport records era:

 

2012: Light amounts of wet snow in parts of western WA, particularly the Olympia area where about 1” fell

 

2008: Widespread 1-3" fell, heavy snowcover from Salem north. 16" on the ground at YVR, 10" at PDX, and 4" at SEA.

 

2007: General trace to 1" snowfall fell from Eugene to B.C. 0.9" fell at SEA and 0.4" at YVR.

 

1998: Slushy leftover snowcover in some areas, particularly in SW BC. 1" depth at MFR and 8" at YVR.

 

1996: Very light snow fell in northern areas with moderate snowcover for NW WA and SW BC. 6" depth at YVR.

 

1990: Very widespread, entire region from southern OR to southern BC generally had 1-3" of snowcover. Light snow and freezing rain fell, including 2.3" at BLI.

 

1988: Light snowfall and snowcover in far southern OR with 0.4" at MFR. In CA, much of the Sacramento Valley scored a white Christmas, with 4" on the ground at Redding.

 

1983: Light dusting of snow in some areas with solid snowcover in most of western OR and dustings elsewhere, including 2" at SLE and 3" at EUG.

 

1971: Major Christmas Day snowstorm north of Seattle, with 8.4" at BLI and 6.9" at YVR.

 

1965: Regionwide snow showers with trace to 2" amounts common. 1.0" at SEA, 0.9" at BLI, and 0.7" at MFR. Seattle still had 4" of leftover snow from a previous storm.

 

1964: Historic flood event in western OR, with snow and arctic air north of Seattle. 1.2" fell at BLI with a 6" snow depth. YVR still had 12" of snow on the ground with 0.3" falling.

 

1954: Regionwide morning snow showers, with trace to 2" amounts common. Totals include 1.1" at OLM, 0.5" at SLE, and 0.4" at MFR.

 

1951: Light leftover snow for Bellingham with heavier snowcover amounts in SW BC.

 

1948: Widespread light snowcover from Seattle north and Eugene south, with amounts ranging from a trace to 3".  In CA, the Sacramento Valley scored Christmas Day snow, with 1" falling at Redding.

 

Pre airport era, a bit harder to find info but white Christmases were also a bit more common overall:

 

1944: Very light dusting of snow around western WA, with 0.2" falling in Seattle and up to 1” elsewhere.

 

1937: Widespread wet snow from Salem north, with 1.3" at Portland, 2-4" around Bellingham, and 8" at Sedro Woolley. Northern WA had heavy snowcover, with 7" at Bellingham.

 

1934: Christmas Day snowstorm for far northern WA and SW BC for the 2nd straight year. 4" fell at Clearbrook and Blaine, 2.5" at Bellingham.

 

1933: Christmas Day snowfall north of Seattle, with widespread 1-3".

 

1927: Lingering snowcover in NW WA and SW BC. Dusting on the ground in Bellingham with 7" at Clearbrook.

 

1926: Snow showers north of Everett with lingering snowcover in those areas, including 4” in Clearbrook.

 

1924: Snowcover from roughly Seattle south, heaviest in western OR. 8” depth in Eugene, 4” in Salem, 2” in Portland, and 1” in Seattle.

 

1921: Widespread snowcover over western OR and western WA, with trace amounts in Seattle and Portland and 1-2” amounts in many other areas south of Mt. Vernon.

 

1916: Light snowfall and spotty snowcover from Seattle north and Eugene south. 0.1” fell in Seattle with light amounts under 1” on the ground in NW WA and SW OR.

 

1915: Light snow around the Puget Sound, with 0.4” falling in Seattle.

 

1911: Light snow from about Seattle northward, with 1” falling in Clearbrook and Blaine. 3” on the ground in Sedro Woolley.

 

1909: Light snow showers across western OR and western WA. 1.8” fell in Seattle, 2” in Olympia, and 0.2” in Portland.

 

1904: Light snow fell in Portland/Seattle areas, only sticking in NW WA with 1” in Blaine and 3” in Port Townsend. Light leftover dusting on ground elsewhere.

 

Pre NWS stations: Far more significant events in the 1800s but alas, far less station info. Have to rely on several stations to get a good idea.

 

1892: Major snowstorm on the 21st and 22nd with 27” falling in Portland. Large leftover snowcover over most of NW OR  and SW WA, on the order of 15”.

 

1891: 0.7” of snow fell in Portland

 

1889: Light dusting around western WA and NW OR following several days of snow

 

1884: Epic snowstorms immediately before Christmas, Portland area already had 10-15” on the ground  with 0.9” falling in Portland.

 

1879: Major snow event on the 21st with a significant arctic airmass following. 9” in Portland.

 

1872?: Major December snow event. Not sure on exact details.

 

1871: Major late December snows. Not sure on exact numbers.

 

1870?: Major December cold wave, again not sure on exact details.

 

1861: Major pre Christmas snowstorms from Portland northward, several inches on the ground at Fort Vancouver and 6-7” at Fort Steilacoom.

 

1859: Overrunning snow/ice event immediately before Christmas at Fort Vancouver, leftover snow

 

1855?: Major late December cold wave, lots of snow

 

1852: Major snowstorms and arctic airmass immediately leading into our region’s coldest Christmas on record, upwards of 10” on the ground for Fort Vancouver and Fort Steilacoom

 

1851: Wet snow event on December 24-25 at Fort Vancouver

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I still remember in 1971 it snowed on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas night. My cousins and I all watched the flakes falling past the street lights at grandmother's house. Fun and magical times!

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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Great list.

 

I would add that parts of Kitsap County near Hood Canal got quite a bit of snow in 2012. They got about 5" just West of Poulsbo near Olympic College and I saw reports of 8" along the Canal.

 

The Chehalis Gap out toward the Coast got 2-5" as well I believe.

Everett Snowfall (510 feet elevation)

Snow since February 2019: 91"

2023-24: 6"

2022-23: 17.5"

2021-22: 17.75"

2020-21: 14.5”

2019-20: 10.5"

2018-19: 24.75"

 

 

 

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In Silverton I remember the 2007 dusting of snow. We had about 6" of snow depth of Christmas Day 2008, but the snow that fell that day was slop and had some rain mixed in. 1990 was the other Christmas we had snow on the ground.

Snowfall                                  Precip

2022-23: 95.0"                      2022-23: 17.39"

2021-22: 52.6"                    2021-22: 91.46" 

2020-21: 12.0"                    2020-21: 71.59"

2019-20: 23.5"                   2019-20: 58.54"

2018-19: 63.5"                   2018-19: 66.33"

2017-18: 30.3"                   2017-18: 59.83"

2016-17: 49.2"                   2016-17: 97.58"

2015-16: 11.75"                 2015-16: 68.67"

2014-15: 3.5"
2013-14: 11.75"                  2013-14: 62.30
2012-13: 16.75"                 2012-13: 78.45  

2011-12: 98.5"                   2011-12: 92.67"

It's always sunny at Winters Hill! 
Fighting the good fight against weather evil.

 

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Great list.

 

I would add that parts of Kitsap County near Hood Canal got quite a bit of snow in 2012. They got about 5" just West of Poulsbo near Olympic College and I saw reports of 8" along the Canal.

 

The Chehalis Gap out toward the Coast got 2-5" as well I believe.

 

Didn't you get 2-3" on B.I. in 2007?

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Didn't you get 2-3" on B.I. in 2007?

I was in Chicago where it was 40 degrees with bare ground, but according to many reports from friends there was a pretty solid 2-3" over the entire island except closer to an inch right on the water.

Everett Snowfall (510 feet elevation)

Snow since February 2019: 91"

2023-24: 6"

2022-23: 17.5"

2021-22: 17.75"

2020-21: 14.5”

2019-20: 10.5"

2018-19: 24.75"

 

 

 

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I remember the white Christmas in 1990 in Tacoma.

 

The one other white Christmas I experienced in the PNW was in 2005, in the Silverton foothills. My parents lived in town, but I knew the snow level was between 500'-1000', and saw some showers moving in on radar. I convinced my whole family to take a little drive up into the hills, and sure enough at around 800-900' it started to snow and quickly accumulate.

 

From what I remember, someone I knew who lived up closer to the falls got about 4" that day. Andrew would have had a white Christmas for sure.

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I remember the white Christmas in 1990 in Tacoma.

 

The one other white Christmas I experienced in the PNW was in 2005, in the Silverton foothills. My parents lived in town, but I knew the snow level was between 500'-1000', and saw some showers moving in on radar. I convinced my whole family to take a little drive up into the hills, and sure enough at around 800-900' it started to snow and quickly accumulate.

 

From what I remember, someone I knew who lived up closer to the falls got about 4" that day. Andrew would have had a white Christmas for sure.

 

2005? You sure you're not thinking of 2003?

 

Christmas 2005 was very mild with a modest south windstorm and near record highs in the valleys.

 

I do remember low elevation snow in spots in 2003 though. That was the day our nice pattern got going and there was a rain/snow mix in some low spots. 

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I was gone in 2008 in California. 2007 I remember a slushy 1/2" and I also recall the snow before Christmas in 1998 but in that sense I've never really had a white Christmas. That's going to change this year though being in Utah.

Winter 23-24: Total Snow (3.2")    Total Ice (0.2")     Coldest Low: 1F     Coldest High: 5F

Snow Events: 0.1" Jan 5th, 0.2" Jan 9th, 1.6" Jan 14, 0.2" (ice) Jan 22, 1.3" Feb 12

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2005? You sure you're not thinking of 2003?

 

Christmas 2005 was very mild with a modest south windstorm and near record highs in the valleys.

 

I do remember low elevation snow in spots in 2003 though. That was the day our nice pattern got going and there was a rain/snow mix in some low spots. 

 

Huh, yeah I guess it must have been 2003. Come to think of it, I think my parents moved to Salem in 2005 so that wouldn't have made sense anyway.

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In honor of the upcoming holiday, I wanted to do a historical recap of all the white Christmas' that I know of in the PNW (western OR, WA and SW BC). I would love more concrete info from the 19th century years, it appears that there were some great ones back then.

 

First in the airport records era:

 

2012: Light amounts of wet snow in parts of western WA, particularly the Olympia area where about 1” fell

 

2008: Widespread 1-3" fell, heavy snowcover from Salem north. 16" on the ground at YVR, 10" at PDX, and 4" at SEA.

 

2007: General trace to 1" snowfall fell from Eugene to B.C. 0.9" fell at SEA and 0.4" at YVR.

 

1998: Slushy leftover snowcover in some areas, particularly in SW BC. 1" depth at MFR and 8" at YVR.

 

1996: Very light snow fell in northern areas with moderate snowcover for NW WA and SW BC. 6" depth at YVR.

 

1990: Very widespread, entire region from southern OR to southern BC generally had 1-3" of snowcover. Light snow and freezing rain fell, including 2.3" at BLI.

 

1988: Light snowfall and snowcover in far southern OR with 0.4" at MFR. In CA, much of the Sacramento Valley scored a white Christmas, with 4" on the ground at Redding.

 

1983: Light dusting of snow in some areas with solid snowcover in most of western OR and dustings elsewhere, including 2" at SLE and 3" at EUG.

 

1971: Major Christmas Day snowstorm north of Seattle, with 8.4" at BLI and 6.9" at YVR.

 

1965: Regionwide snow showers with trace to 2" amounts common. 1.0" at SEA, 0.9" at BLI, and 0.7" at MFR. Seattle still had 4" of leftover snow from a previous storm.

 

1964: Historic flood event in western OR, with snow and arctic air north of Seattle. 1.2" fell at BLI with a 6" snow depth. YVR still had 12" of snow on the ground with 0.3" falling.

 

1954: Regionwide morning snow showers, with trace to 2" amounts common. Totals include 1.1" at OLM, 0.5" at SLE, and 0.4" at MFR.

 

1951: Light leftover snow for Bellingham with heavier snowcover amounts in SW BC.

 

1948: Widespread light snowcover from Seattle north and Eugene south, with amounts ranging from a trace to 3".  In CA, the Sacramento Valley scored Christmas Day snow, with 1" falling at Redding.

 

Pre airport era, a bit harder to find info but white Christmases were also a bit more common overall:

 

1944: Very light dusting of snow around western WA, with 0.2" falling in Seattle and up to 1” elsewhere.

 

1937: Widespread wet snow from Salem north, with 1.3" at Portland, 2-4" around Bellingham, and 8" at Sedro Woolley. Northern WA had heavy snowcover, with 7" at Bellingham.

 

1934: Christmas Day snowstorm for far northern WA and SW BC for the 2nd straight year. 4" fell at Clearbrook and Blaine, 2.5" at Bellingham.

 

1933: Christmas Day snowfall north of Seattle, with widespread 1-3".

 

1927: Lingering snowcover in NW WA and SW BC. Dusting on the ground in Bellingham with 7" at Clearbrook.

 

1926: Snow showers north of Everett with lingering snowcover in those areas, including 4” in Clearbrook.

 

1924: Snowcover from roughly Seattle south, heaviest in western OR. 8” depth in Eugene, 4” in Salem, 2” in Portland, and 1” in Seattle.

 

1921: Widespread snowcover over western OR and western WA, with trace amounts in Seattle and Portland and 1-2” amounts in many other areas south of Mt. Vernon.

 

1916: Light snowfall and spotty snowcover from Seattle north and Eugene south. 0.1” fell in Seattle with light amounts under 1” on the ground in NW WA and SW OR.

 

1915: Light snow around the Puget Sound, with 0.4” falling in Seattle.

 

1911: Light snow from about Seattle northward, with 1” falling in Clearbrook and Blaine. 3” on the ground in Sedro Woolley.

 

1909: Light snow showers across western OR and western WA. 1.8” fell in Seattle, 2” in Olympia, and 0.2” in Portland.

 

1904: Light snow fell in Portland/Seattle areas, only sticking in NW WA with 1” in Blaine and 3” in Port Townsend. Light leftover dusting on ground elsewhere.

 

Pre NWS stations: Far more significant events in the 1800s but alas, far less station info. Have to rely on several stations to get a good idea.

 

1892: Major snowstorm on the 21st and 22nd with 27” falling in Portland. Large leftover snowcover over most of NW OR  and SW WA, on the order of 15”.

 

1891: 0.7” of snow fell in Portland

 

1889: Light dusting around western WA and NW OR following several days of snow

 

1884: Epic snowstorms immediately before Christmas, Portland area already had 10-15” on the ground  with 0.9” falling in Portland.

 

1879: Major snow event on the 21st with a significant arctic airmass following. 9” in Portland.

 

1872?: Major December snow event. Not sure on exact details.

 

1871: Major late December snows. Not sure on exact numbers.

 

1870?: Major December cold wave, again not sure on exact details.

 

1861: Major pre Christmas snowstorms from Portland northward, several inches on the ground at Fort Vancouver and 6-7” at Fort Steilacoom.

 

1859: Overrunning snow/ice event immediately before Christmas at Fort Vancouver, leftover snow

 

1855?: Major late December cold wave, lots of snow

 

1852: Major snowstorms and arctic airmass immediately leading into our region’s coldest Christmas on record, upwards of 10” on the ground for Fort Vancouver and Fort Steilacoom

 

1851: Wet snow event on December 24-25 at Fort Vancouver

 

I can fill in the gap for the early 1870's at least for the central Willamette Valley.

 

Eola, near Salem had a big cold wave right before Christmas in 1870. Lowest reading was 9 degrees at the 7am obs time on 12/21. Then 0.39" of precip fell on the 23rd with rising temps - 24 degrees at 7am, 32 degrees at 2pm and 37 degrees at 9pm. Then right back to colder weather with 2pm readings of 31 on 12/25 and 29 on 12/26.

 

December 1871 was close to a dream scenario for Christmas. Eola was 18/11 on that day, followed by 19/7 on the 26th. Arctic frontal passage occured on Christmas Eve and brought 0.40" of melted precip, although I don't know how much of that fell as rain before the presumed changeover. No matter, there was still plenty of snow on the ground from the big snows mid-month as there had been no serious warmup.

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I can fill in the gap for the early 1870's at least for the central Willamette Valley.

 

Eola, near Salem had a big cold wave right before Christmas in 1870. Lowest reading was 9 degrees at the 7am obs time on 12/21. Then 0.39" of precip fell on the 23rd with rising temps - 24 degrees at 7am, 32 degrees at 2pm and 37 degrees at 9pm. Then right back to colder weather with 2pm readings of 31 on 12/25 and 29 on 12/26.

 

December 1871 was close to a dream scenario for Christmas. Eola was 18/11 on that day, followed by 19/7 on the 26th. Arctic frontal passage occured on Christmas Eve and brought 0.40" of melted precip, although I don't know how much of that fell as rain before the presumed changeover. No matter, there was still plenty of snow on the ground from the big snows mid-month as there had been no serious warmup.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the December 1872 event sort of early-mid month? That one may not have been white.

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Central and Eastern Oregon will have a White Christmas this year. 

Snowfall                                  Precip

2022-23: 95.0"                      2022-23: 17.39"

2021-22: 52.6"                    2021-22: 91.46" 

2020-21: 12.0"                    2020-21: 71.59"

2019-20: 23.5"                   2019-20: 58.54"

2018-19: 63.5"                   2018-19: 66.33"

2017-18: 30.3"                   2017-18: 59.83"

2016-17: 49.2"                   2016-17: 97.58"

2015-16: 11.75"                 2015-16: 68.67"

2014-15: 3.5"
2013-14: 11.75"                  2013-14: 62.30
2012-13: 16.75"                 2012-13: 78.45  

2011-12: 98.5"                   2011-12: 92.67"

It's always sunny at Winters Hill! 
Fighting the good fight against weather evil.

 

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the December 1872 event sort of early-mid month? That one may not have been white.

 

Its tough to tell. Christmas was mild for sure, it was in the 50's on both the 24th and 25th in Eola.

 

The 23rd is interesting though since 2.25" of precip was recorded with 31 at 7am, 38 at 2pm and 44 at 9pm. There may have been a big dump of wet snow that morning.

 

Other than that, there was a brief cold shot mid month with 29 at 2pm on the 16th and 30 on the 17th. The precip shows zero for those days however, and it may have been an inversion.

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Its tough to tell. Christmas was mild for sure, it was in the 50's on both the 24th and 25th in Eola.

 

The 23rd is interesting though since 2.25" of precip was recorded with 31 at 7am, 38 at 2pm and 44 at 9pm. There may have been a big dump of wet snow that morning.

 

Other than that, there was a brief cold shot mid month with 29 at 2pm on the 16th and 30 on the 17th. The precip shows zero for those days however, and it may have been an inversion.

 

Interesting. 

 

It sucks that the late 1860s to mid 1870s period is particularly hard to find records for. 1868-69 might be the only post European settlement winter that I'm not really sure about. I have no idea what the temps were like around the region.

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Great list.

 

I would add that parts of Kitsap County near Hood Canal got quite a bit of snow in 2012. They got about 5" just West of Poulsbo near Olympic College and I saw reports of 8" along the Canal.

 

The Chehalis Gap out toward the Coast got 2-5" as well I believe.

We got around 4 inches then. Half melted through the day but it was coming down hard at day break. Awesome to see on Christmas.

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A few good ones from the 19th century.

 

1852 - 18/0 with 13" on the ground at Fort Steilcoom.

 

1871 - 24/11 with 3 or 4 inches on the ground in Seattle. Significant snowfall occurred just after the 25th and some earlier in the month.

 

1884 - 32/27 with several inches on the ground. Over 12" fell the 18th - 20th and it remained very cold.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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  • 2 years later...

I wonder what the stats are for the Central and Southern Willamette Valley? 2008 was the last one for the Central Valley. No clue about the South Valley. Eugene barely missed one in 2003 by like 3-4 days then had a frigid beginning to 2004 but going back through the records it looks like 1995 was the last time Eugene had precip with temps cold enough but I'm not sure if that was ZR or Snow.

 

My guess would be about a 5% chance for Salem and a 2-3% chance for Eugene in a given year.

Springfield, Oregon regular season 2023-24 Stats:

  • Coldest high: 25F (Jan 14, 2024)
  • Coldest low: 20F (Jan 14, 2024)
  • Days with below freezing temps: 24 (Most recent: Mar 8, 2024)
  • Days with sub-40F highs: 4 (Most recent: Jan 16, 2024)
  • Total snowfall: 0.0"
  • Total ice: 2.25”
  • Last accumulating snowfall on roads: Dec 27, 2021 (1.9")
  • Last sub-freezing high: Jan 15, 2024 (27F)
  • Last White Christmas: 1990
  • Significant wind events (gusts 45+): 0

Personal Stats:

  • Last accumulating snowfall on roads: Dec 27, 2021
  • Last sub-freezing high: Jan 16, 2024 (32F)
  • Last White Christmas: 2008
  • Total snowfall since joining TheWeatherForums: 42.0"
  • Sub-freezing highs since joining TheWeatherForums: 4

 

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Interesting. 

 

It sucks that the late 1860s to mid 1870s period is particularly hard to find records for. 1868-69 might be the only post European settlement winter that I'm not really sure about. I have no idea what the temps were like around the region.

 

Looks like a torch from what I can tell. I'm looking at Fort Ellis (Bozeman) data. Not a single sub-zero reading on the 3-obs daily's during DJF. Lowest was 2 degrees. Finally dropped to -2 at the 7:00 AM obs time on March 3rd. 

 

For comparison, Fort Ellis hit -33 in January 1870 (followed by -36 on 3/14/1870). Lots of sub-zero readings in subsequent winters as well. 1868-69 definitely stuck out for its lack of cold. 

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Looks like a torch from what I can tell. I'm looking at Fort Ellis (Bozeman) data. Not a single sub-zero reading on the 3-obs daily's during DJF. Lowest was 2 degrees. Finally dropped to -2 at the 7:00 AM obs time on March 3rd. 

 

For comparison, Fort Ellis hit -33 in January 1870 (followed by -36 on 3/14/1870). Lots of sub-zero readings in subsequent winters as well. 1868-69 definitely stuck out for its lack of cold. 

 

Yeah, looking back at the newspaper info, it appears that 1868-69 was one of the early torchy winters around here with little to no snow or arctic airmasses. I believe ENSO reconstruction put that year as a moderate El Nino which isn't surprising.

 

It seems that the 1866-1871 period was actually kind of rough for snow around Portland by the era's standards, I don't think any of those winters topped 12". 1874-78 was another little snow drought, since I'm pretty positive that the listed downtown 1875-76 number is junk.

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I remember the white Christmas in 1990 in Tacoma.

 

The one other white Christmas I experienced in the PNW was in 2005, in the Silverton foothills. My parents lived in town, but I knew the snow level was between 500'-1000', and saw some showers moving in on radar. I convinced my whole family to take a little drive up into the hills, and sure enough at around 800-900' it started to snow and quickly accumulate.

 

From what I remember, someone I knew who lived up closer to the falls got about 4" that day. Andrew would have had a white Christmas for sure.

Were your friends either Hafner's or DeSantis" ? Lots of properties up there owned by those families

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Yeah, looking back at the newspaper info, it appears that 1868-69 was one of the early torchy winters around here with little to no snow or arctic airmasses. I believe ENSO reconstruction put that year as a moderate El Nino which isn't surprising.

 

It seems that the 1866-1871 period was actually kind of rough for snow around Portland by the era's standards, I don't think any of those winters topped 12". 1874-78 was another little snow drought, since I'm pretty positive that the listed downtown 1875-76 number is junk.

 

The tree-ring reconstructed Nino 3.4 index puts 1869 in strong Nino territory, although that reconstruction is far from exact. 

 

ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/enso-li2013.txt

 

Still, 1869 & 1878 stick out as the only notable Nino's of that era. 

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Were your friends either Hafner's or DeSantis" ? Lots of properties up there owned by those families

One of the DeSantis owns the 40 acres that border my property. Don’t remember which one. Met him once or twice, but he doesn’t come around much.

Snowfall                                  Precip

2022-23: 95.0"                      2022-23: 17.39"

2021-22: 52.6"                    2021-22: 91.46" 

2020-21: 12.0"                    2020-21: 71.59"

2019-20: 23.5"                   2019-20: 58.54"

2018-19: 63.5"                   2018-19: 66.33"

2017-18: 30.3"                   2017-18: 59.83"

2016-17: 49.2"                   2016-17: 97.58"

2015-16: 11.75"                 2015-16: 68.67"

2014-15: 3.5"
2013-14: 11.75"                  2013-14: 62.30
2012-13: 16.75"                 2012-13: 78.45  

2011-12: 98.5"                   2011-12: 92.67"

It's always sunny at Winters Hill! 
Fighting the good fight against weather evil.

 

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I wonder what the stats are for the Central and Southern Willamette Valley? 2008 was the last one for the Central Valley. No clue about the South Valley. Eugene barely missed one in 2003 by like 3-4 days then had a frigid beginning to 2004 but going back through the records it looks like 1995 was the last time Eugene had precip with temps cold enough but I'm not sure if that was ZR or Snow.

 

My guess would be about a 5% chance for Salem and a 2-3% chance for Eugene in a given year.

1990 was the last before 2008, that I can remember, aside from the dusting in 2007.

Snowfall                                  Precip

2022-23: 95.0"                      2022-23: 17.39"

2021-22: 52.6"                    2021-22: 91.46" 

2020-21: 12.0"                    2020-21: 71.59"

2019-20: 23.5"                   2019-20: 58.54"

2018-19: 63.5"                   2018-19: 66.33"

2017-18: 30.3"                   2017-18: 59.83"

2016-17: 49.2"                   2016-17: 97.58"

2015-16: 11.75"                 2015-16: 68.67"

2014-15: 3.5"
2013-14: 11.75"                  2013-14: 62.30
2012-13: 16.75"                 2012-13: 78.45  

2011-12: 98.5"                   2011-12: 92.67"

It's always sunny at Winters Hill! 
Fighting the good fight against weather evil.

 

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The tree-ring reconstructed Nino 3.4 index puts 1869 in strong Nino territory, although that reconstruction is far from exact.

 

ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/enso-li2013.txt

 

Still, 1869 & 1878 stick out as the only notable Nino's of that era.

I’ve read that the 1878 Niño was arguably stronger than 1997/98. It definitely affected tropical circulation and rainfall patterns afterwards to a larger extent than 1997/98.

 

Could it be argued that 1998/99 was an “expanded Hadley Cell version” of those 1880s winters? They all had the strong jets/storm trains on re-analysis, but the pacific jet/cell network was shifted poleward in the late 1990s along with the warm pool (which was shifted NE, away from the IO/Indo domain and towards the off-equator WPAC.

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I’ve read that the 1878 Niño was arguably stronger than 1997/98. It definitely affected tropical circulation and rainfall patterns afterwards to a larger extent than 1997/98.

 

Could it be argued that 1998/99 was an “expanded Hadley Cell version” of those 1880s winters? They all had the strong jets/storm trains on re-analysis, but the pacific jet/cell network was shifted poleward in the late 1990s along with the warm pool (which was shifted NE, away from the IO/Indo domain and towards the off-equator WPAC.

 

It is interesting that both 1877-78 and 1997-98 Nino's transitioned into historically notable multi-year Nina's. The 1972-73 Nino did as well. 

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