Heavy Snow in Northwest Blue Mountains, Washington

Persistent troughing off the coast of the Pacific Northwest focused a stream of mid-level moisture over the Inland Northwest resulting in a long duration snow event as the plume drifted north and south several times between the 22nd and 25th of February. Breezy northeastern winds in the lower Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley, especially on ridge tops resulting in drifts nearing 5 feet in height making many roads over the ridge tops impassable for several days. Storm total snow accumulations were measured at 25.2 inches in Snowden, 16.5 inches in White Salmon, 10 inches in Ellensburg, 10 inches in Trout Lake, 8 inches in Richland, 9 inches in Walla Walla, 8 inches in Kennewick and 6 inches in Yakima.