Heavy Snow — Kittitas Valley, Washington

2022-01-05 to 2022-01-06 · Kittitas Valley, Washington

Event narrative

A media partner indicated 15 inches of new snow had accumulated 5 miles WSW of Ellensburg, WA at 0652 PST on Jan. 6th. A public report indicated 18 inches of new snow had accumulated 1 mile ENE of Ellensburg, WA at 0730 PST on Jan. 6th.

Wider weather episode

A prolonged period of northwest flow over the Pacific Northwest guided several rounds of moisture advection across the mountain zones, leading to upslope moderate to heavy snow showers nearly each day. Meanwhile, surface frontal systems and a series of shortwave troughs in the flow aloft produced moderate to heavy snow as well as some periods of freezing rain across the lower elevations. Strong winds were also produced as a result of these shortwave troughs and surface frontal systems at the beginning and end of the prolonged winter weather conditions. During this extended period of winter weather, the I-84 and several state and US highways in Oregon and Washington closed for extended periods of time due to increased traffic accidents from ice and/or moderate to heavy snow accumulations on roadways.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1005202. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.