Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 17 to 18, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 17 to 18, 2001
Start: 2001-12-17T12:00
End: 2001-12-18T15:00
Location: Oregon

December 17 to 18, 2001 · NWS PQR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

In the Cascades 11 inches of snow fell at Mt. Hood Meadows, 9 inches at Santiam Pass, 8 inches at Timberline, and 7 inches at Bennett Pass.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

In the Cascades 11 inches of snow fell at Mt. Hood Meadows, 9 inches at Santiam Pass, 8 inches at Timberline, and 7 inches at Bennett Pass. In the Columbia River Gorge, Hood River had 4 inches of snow and Cascade Locks 1 to 2 inches.

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 17, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 AM PST MON DEC 17 2001

.SYNOPSIS...SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL DECREASE TODAY AS ONSHORE FLOW
WEAKENS...WITH WEAK SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO EASTERN
OREGON TONIGHT AS THE NEXT PAC FRONT APPROACHES. THE FRONT WILL PUSH
EAST ACROSS THE AREA TUE...WITH SHOWERS DECREASING TUE NIGHT AS
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE REFORMS OVER EASTERN OREGON. ANOTHER LOW WILL
APPROACH THE OREGON COAST WED WITH RAIN DEVELOPING AGAIN.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...LONG WAVE TROUGH POSITION NEAR 140W TODAY WITH NEXT PAC
FRONT STREAMING EAST TOWARD COAST. ETA APPEARS SLOW WITH SYSTEM AND
EVEN AVN LOOKS INITIALLY SLOW...HOWEVER AVN MIGHT BE OK AS SYSTEM
WILL FIRST LIFT INTO WA COAST TONIGHT BEFORE SAGGING INTO DISTRICT
LATE TONIGHT. MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW THROUGH GORGE SHOULD DEVELOP
TONIGHT WHICH SHOULD DRAW SOME COOL AIR INTO GORGE FOR THREAT OF SNOW
NEAR HOOD RIVER TUE MORNING AS SYSTEM MOVES INLAND. ALSO MAY SEE LOW
SNOW LEVELS IN COAST RANGE AND CASCADE FOOTHILLS TUE MORNING BEFORE
AIR MASS WARMS IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT DURING DAY. WILL ADDRESS
POSSIBLE SNOW ADVISORIES IN AFTERNOON PACKAGE. NEXT SYSTEM TO
APPROACH WED WITH PREVIOUS AVN MODEL RUNS INCONSISTENT IN SOLUTIONS
AND LATEST AVN NOT YET AVAILABLE THROUGH WED.

.LONG TERM...NO CHANGES AS MRF ENSEMBLES CONTINUING TO SHOW
DEVELOPING LONG WAVE RIDGE POSITION ALONG WEST COAST. WILLIS

AST 67978  PDX 55957  SLE 55957  EUG 53978

.PQR...GALE WARNING CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE.

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Oregon Cascades

When: December 17, 12:00 PM PST to December 18, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Northern Oregon Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

Heavy Snow, Western Columbia River Gorge

When: December 17, 12:00 PM PST to December 18, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Western Columbia River Gorge forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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

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: 5275467, 5275468.