Heavy Snow — Central Columbia River Gorge, Washington

2019-02-10 to 2019-02-12 · Central Columbia River Gorge, Washington

Event narrative

On average, 5 to 10 inches of snow fell through the central Columbia Gorge. Reports came from various networks including CoCoRaHS, trained spotters, and from our COOP observer at Bonneville Dam. Per the Oregonian (newspaper), Interstate 84 was closed in both directions east of Milepost 23 at 528 AM on February 12th due to snow.

Wider weather episode

Back-to-back low pressure systems dropping south along the coast of British Columbia and Washington brought cold air south into SW Washington as well as plenty of moisture. Locations in the Columbia Gorge saw 1 to 2 feet of snow. At lower elevations, a near stationary frontal boundary Monday night into Tuesday morning dropped several inches of rain over portions of Cowlitz County causing flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810017. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.