Heavy Snow — Eastern Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

2021-12-19 to 2021-12-20 · Eastern Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Event narrative

A trained spotter 5 miles SSW of Chenoweth, OR measured 7.8 inches if new snow in a 24 hour period. A public report from Arlington, OR estimated that 4 inches of new snow had fallen in a 24 hour period ending at 1026 PST on Dec. 20th.

Wider weather episode

An upper level weather system pushed a cold front into the Pacific Northwest late Dec. 18th, where the frontal boundary had stalled across southeast Washington and northeast Oregon through Dec. 20th where the stationary frontal boundary had weakened in the afternoon. As a result, bands of rain, freezing rain, and snow were produced across portions of the forecast area during the 19th and 20th, with snow being reported across the lower elevations in the Columbia Basin and mountain locations across southeast Washington and northeast Oregon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 999767. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.