Winter Storm — Central Columbia River Gorge, Washington

2021-02-11 to 2021-02-15 · Central Columbia River Gorge, Washington

Event narrative

Heavy snow fell through the central Columbia Gorge between the night of the 11th through the 14th. Trained spotters at Underwood and Willard measured 10-20 inches of snow. State Highway SR 14 was closed multiple days.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper trough drove an arctic airmass into southwest Washington. As multiple Pacific fronts moved over the area, a major elevation winter storm with heavy snow and freezing rain occurred over a multi-day period. This was a major, widespread, multi-faceted winter storm that caused major problems across the forecast area, even (and especially) in the lowlands.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 946573. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.