Winter Storm — Lower Columbia, Washington

2021-02-11 to 2021-02-13 · Lower Columbia, Washington

Event narrative

Widespread snow fell over the region beginning the night of the 11th and continued in waves through the 14th. Snow accumulations of 8 to 14 inches were fairly consistently reported across the zone. Widespread transportation delays occurred including along I-5. Scattered power outages were also reported.

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 946575. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.