Heavy Snow — Lower Columbia Basin, Washington

2022-12-04 to 2022-12-05 · Lower Columbia Basin, Washington

Event narrative

A social media post in Richland, Wa indicated 4 inches of new snow accumulations at 0347 PST on Dec. 5th. A Co-Op observer 8 miles north northeast of Hermiston, Or measured 4.8 inches of new snow over a 24 hour period ending at 0705 PST on Dec. 5th.

Wider weather episode

A series of deformation bands aided by a closed upper low off the southwest Oregon coastline resulted in light to moderate snowfall through much of the day Dec. 4th and through the morning on Dec. 5th. The prolonged snowfall resulted in heavy snow accumulations across the Lower Columbia Basin, portions of the eastern Columbia River Gorge, the Blue Mountain Foothills, and in the Yakima valley.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1072037. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.