Heavy Snow — Greater Portland Metro Area, Oregon

2021-12-25 to 2021-12-27 · Greater Portland Metro Area, Oregon

Event narrative

Widespread snow showers increased across the area Christmas night, continuing through the 26th. Western areas of the Portland metro saw around 2 to 6 inches of snow, while around 1 to 2 inches of snow fell elsewhere. Also reported was the death of one person in Multnomah County due to hypothermia. Key Impacts: traffic accidents.

Wider weather episode

A prolonged winter weather event occurred across the Pacific Northwest during the Christmas holiday, resulting in significant travel issues for the holiday weekend. The event began with heavy snow in the mountains, but progressively cooler air brought snow levels down to the valley floors Christmas Day. Snow showers increased the night of the 25th, continuing through the 26th. The result was a significant lowland snow event, especially south of Salem where many locations recorded 5 to 10 inches of snow. Eugene Airport had one of the heavier snow totals, where contract observers measured 10.1 inches of snow during the event. Meanwhile, snow continued to pile up in the Cascades, with many locations exceeding 2 feet and some even exceeding 3 feet.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 997205. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.