Heavy Snow — Northern Blue Mountains, Oregon

2022-04-10 to 2022-04-12 · Northern Blue Mountains, Oregon

Event narrative

The milk Shakes SNOTEL 9 miles southwest of Ski Bluewood, WA measured 12 inches of new snow in a 24 hour period ending at 0400 PDT. A report relayed from a media partner estimated that 14 inches of new snow was measured at 0622 PDT.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough pushed several low pressure systems across the Pacific Northwest in the middle of April. The trough allowed for a much colder than normal air mass to settle into portions of eastern Washington and Oregon, allowing snow levels to drop to the surface across a majority of these areas. This ultimately resulted in snow accumulations in the mountains and lower elevations, with significant snow accumulations being observed in some mountain zones.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1024920. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.