Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 13 to 14, 2001
Start: 2001-12-13T14:00
End: 2001-12-14T18:00
Location: Oregon

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PQR wrote it up.

Snowfall amounts were 16 inches at Santiam Pass, Timberline, and Mt. Hood Meadows. Mt. Bachelor received 15 inches of snow.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 13, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 AM PST THU DEC 13 2001

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM HAS SPED UP AND WILL
BRING STRONG COASTAL WIND AND HEAVY RAIN TO OUR FORECAST AREA TODAY.
THE FRONT WILL MOVE ONSHORE EARLY THIS EVENING...BRINGING
LOWERING SNOW LEVELS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND SLOWLY DECREASING WIND.
SHOWERS WITH LOW SNOW LEVELS WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY. A WARM FRONT WILL
ARRIVE DURING THE DAY SATURDAY...WITH INITIALLY LOW SNOW LEVELS
RISING TO BETWEEN 4000 AND 5000 FEET LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. THE
FOLLOWING COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE AT THE COAST SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND
MOVE INLAND SUNDAY EVENING...WITH SNOW LEVELS FALLING WELL BELOW PASS
LEVELS AGAIN. ADDITIONAL SYSTEMS ARE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...WINDS ARE INCREASING ON THE CENTRAL COAST ALREADY...AND
HAVE UPDATED HIGH WIND WARNING TO START EARLIER ON THE COAST.
YESTERDAYS AVIATION MODEL APPEARS TO BE CORRECT...HAVING BEEN THE
FASTEST MODEL. FRONT LOOKS TO BE NEAR THE COAST AND COMING ONSHORE
AROUND 4 PM OR 00Z. SNOW LEVELS WELL ABOVE PASSES THIS MORNING. SNOW
LEVEL DROPS TO AT LEAST 2000 FEET BY FRIDAY MORNING...AND POSSIBLY
1000 FEET OR A BIT LOWER DURING THE DAY FRIDAY. THE MOUNTAIN WINTER
STORM WATCH LOOKS REASONABLE STILL...AND WILL NEED TO LOOK AT CASCADE
FOOTHILLS AS WELL.

SHOWERS EASE FRIDAY NIGHT...THEN THE NEXT OVERRUNNING SYSTEM COMES IN
SATURDAY. WILL LIKELY HAVE LOW SNOW LEVELS INITIALLY SATURDAY BEFORE
LIFTING IN THE AFTERNOON. MAY HAVE LOW ELEVATION SNOW IN THE
GORGE...AND POSSIBLY NEAR THE WEST END OF THE GORGE.

CONTINUING THE GALE WARNING...WITH WINDS EASING FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
LIKELY NEED A GALE AGAIN THIS WEEKEND. SEAS WILL BUILD TO NEAR 20
FEET TONIGHT.

.LONG TERM...MODELS AGREE ON MORE SYSTEMS NEXT WEEK. THE COLD FRONT
ASSOCIATED WITH SATURDAY/S WARM FRONT WILL COME IN LATER
SUNDAY...FOLLOWED BY SHOWERS AND COOLER AIR MONDAY. ANOTHER SYSTEM
ABOUT TUESDAY. TOLLESON

AST ++879 PDX 9+868 SLE 9+868 EUG 9+967

.PQR...GALE WARNING...CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE.
       WINTER STORM WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR THE SOUTH
        WASHINGTON AND NORTH AND CENTRAL OREGON CASCADES.
       HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR THE
        SOUTH WASHINGTON AND NORTH AND CENTRAL OREGON COASTS.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 13, 1:15 PM PST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
0115 PM PST THU DEC 13 2001

TIME(PST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0115 PM    NETARTS                   OR   TILLAMOOK 1 REPORTS WINDS
12/05/01   TILLAMOOK                      50-60 MPH WITH GUST TO 72.
                                          HEAVY RAIN.

Local storm report, Dec 13, 1:50 PM PST, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
0150 PM PST THU DEC 13 2001

TIME(PST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0150 PM    NETARTS                   OR   TILLAMOOK 1 REPORTS WINDS
12/13/01   TILLAMOOK                      50-60 MPH WITH GUST TO 78.
                                          HEAVY RAIN.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Oregon Cascades

When: December 13, 2:00 PM PST to December 14, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Northern Oregon Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275460.