Blizzard — Western Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

2021-02-11 to 2021-02-12 · Western Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Event narrative

Strong winds and heavy snow shut down I-84 east of Troutdale. This was a transition event, from blizzard to winter storm to freezing rain. Mark Nelsen (KPTV Chief Met) reported 15 inches of snow total, followed by 0.75 of ice. Sustained winds of 30-45 mph with gusts 60-80 mph were reported for 12-24 hours (or more), along with heavy snow reducing visibility to near zero during the height of the wind/snow portion of the event. I-84 finally reopened the morning of the 14th as snow decreased and changed to a brief period of freezing rain.

Wider weather episode

This was a major, widespread, multi-faceted winter storm that caused major problems across the northern 2/3 of our forecast area, even (and especially) in the lowlands. Impacts were felt as far south as Albany. WFO Portland measured 10.1 of snow, followed by roughly 0.75 of ice. Significant impacts to infrastructure occurred, with over 400,000 people losing power at some point during the storm. The area impacted the hardest appears to be the southern portions of the Portland metro, south through Oregon City and Silverton and as far south as Salem and Aumsville. Polk County was hit hard by ice as well, with 1.00 to 1.75 of ice reported. Some people in these areas hard-hit by ice lost power for over a week.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 946314. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.