Heavy Snow — Cascade Foothills in Lane County, Oregon

2019-02-24 to 2019-02-25 · Cascade Foothills in Lane County, Oregon

Event narrative

Snow totals were generally 8 to 16 inches, with locations as low as the valley floors falling within this range. CoCoRaHS observers from Lorane and Oakridge each reported 18 inches. The heavy snow closed Interstate 5 near Cottage Grove and Highway 58 east of Lowell due to multiple accidents and trees downed by the weight of the snow. Highway 58 was shut down for several days. Power outages lasted several days in some locations.

Wider weather episode

It started as a low pressure system moving south into eastern Washington, bringing a cold front southeastward across western Oregon. The front then stalled across the southern Willamette Valley and Lane County Cascades as colder and colder air moved in aloft. What started as rain at low elevations turned to snow during the afternoon of the 23rd. The stalled front kept producing snow over the same areas through the next 24 hours with a direct tap of moisture from the Pacific Ocean. Another surface low pressure system rode up the stationary front and brought another surge of moisture and heavy snow on the 24th through the morning of the 25th. This surface low finally pushed the frontal boundary out of the area and brought an end to the snow the night of the 25th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 811009. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.