Winter Storm — Greater Portland Metro Area, Oregon

2024-01-12 to 2024-01-13 · Greater Portland Metro Area, Oregon

Event narrative

Blizzard-like conditions were observed at the height of the storm with roughly 1 to 4 inches of a snow/sleet across the Portland and Vancouver metro area and widespread east wind gusts of 35-55 mph. This led to hundreds of downed trees and limbs, resulting in widespread and extended power outages. Multnomah County, the City of Portland, City of Lake Oswego declared a State of Emergency. Portland Parks and Recreation reported 380 downed trees or large branches, The City of Lake Oswego reported more than 100 downed trees. These reports along with trees downed on private property, at least 500 trees were downed in the Portland Metro area. Downed trees and power lines resulted in power outages. Portland General Electric had a peak count of 165,000 customers without power. Portland Bureau of Transportation had 29 road closures due to downed powerlines and trees within the city of Portland, TriMet cancelled all public transportation. Additional roads were closed across Washington and Multnomah Counties including parts of Highway 30 and US 26. At least 10 homes and 25 cars were damaged from downed trees. Damage estimates are from counties of Multnomah & Clackamas which have boundaries outside the NWS zone. There was no cost estimate from Washington county for this report.

There were 7 direct fatalities due to either suspected hypothermia, falling objects. Two indirect fatalities attributed to a generator used to warm an apartment caught fire. Another indirect fatality occurred when a tree fell on a RV, starting a fire killing one of two occupants. Three direct injuries occurred when a tree fell on a tent injuring the occupants.

Wider weather episode

A very strong arctic front moved across Western Washington and Oregon on the 12th and 13th dropping temperatures below freezing. With cold air in the lowlands, all precipitation fell as freezing rain for areas along the coast, valleys in the Coast Range, and Willamette Valley northward into southwest Washington. This caused significant impacts, especially around Springfield which received well over an inch of ice accumulation. Strong east winds in the Portland metro area resulted in significant tree damage and power outages. There were injuries and fatalities during this event due to cold exposure, falling trees and electrocution from fallen power lines. The State of Oregon estimated economic loss to businesses of $165 million due to winter weather for the month of January. While this was for the entire state, most of the impacts were in northwest Oregon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1158557. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.