Winter Storm in Oregon, December 27 to 28, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Oregon, December 27 to 28, 2001
Start: 2001-12-27T02:00
End: 2001-12-28T15:00
Location: Oregon

December 27 to 28, 2001 · NWS PQR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy snows were reported in the Cascades, 8 inches fell at Mt. Bachelor and Warm Springs, 6 inches at Blue Box and Santiam 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.

Heavy snows were reported in the Cascades, 8 inches fell at Mt. Bachelor and Warm Springs, 6 inches at Blue Box and Santiam Pass. In the Columbia River Gorge, Hood River reported 2 inches of snow, Freezing Rain was reported at Corbett, and Skamania reported both sleet and 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 26, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 26, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 PM PST WED DEC 26 2001

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER IDAHO THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.
PAC FRONT APPROACHING COAST SPLITS APART AS IT MOVES INLAND THU NIGHT
BUT SPREADS PRECIPITATION TO ALL OF AREA.  NEXT FRONT PUSHES INTO
AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AGAIN SPLITTING AS IT MOVES ACROSS AREA.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...BLOCK CONTINUES OVER WEST THOUGH S BRANCH PUNCHES MORE
ENERGY THROUGH UNDER BLOCKING HIGH OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA.  SURFACE
HIGH REMAINS OVER IDAHO THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT THOUGH WEAKENS SOME
THU/THU NIGHT AS CURRENT SYSTEM OFFSHORE MOVES THROUGH.  EVE ETA
TRENDING TOWARDS AVN THROUGH STILL A LITTLE FURTHER N ON PORTION OF
ENERGY PUNCHING THROUGH.  SATELLITE FAVORS AVN AS LOW CLEARLY TURNING
NEAR 140W AS AVN SUGGESTS.  AIR MASS INITIALLY DRY SO PCPN SO TO
START THU ESPECIALLY INLAND.  MAIN PROBLEM COLD AIR E SIDE AND WITH
CONTINUED STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW NOT LIKELY TO SEE MUCH CHANGE AT LEAST
UNTIL FRI.  700 MB TEMPS NEAR -2 C AND 850 MB TEMPS NEAR 5 C AHEAD OF
FRONT DONT SUPPORT LOW SNOW LEVELS.  HOWEVER WITH STRONG E FLOW AND
COLD TEMPS IN PASSES FRZG RA GOOD POSSIBILITY E SLOPES AND PASSES.
GORGE ALSO A PROBLEM HOWEVER LOW LEVEL AIR ONLY NEAR FREEZING SO WILL
JUST GO FOR POSSIBLE FREEZING RAIN E LATE THU/THU NIGHT.  AS TROUGH
PUSHES IN FREEZING LEVELS LOWER.  ETA MUCH LESS SWITCHING TO ONSHORE
FLOW THEN MORNING AVN.  THIS WILL KEEP MOST PCPN WITH FRONT WHICH
DECREASES LATER THU NIGHT THOUGH FLOW ENOUGH CYCLONIC TO GIVE NW
CORNER SOME SHOWERS THROUGH THU NIGHT INTO EARLY FRI.  WEAK RIDGINH
KEEPS MOST OF AREA DREA FRI THOUGH ETA FASTER WITH NEXT WARM FRONT
LATE FRI.  FOR NOW WILL KEEP SYSTEM S UNTIL FRI NIGHT.  WARM FRONT
LIFTS OVER AREA FRI NIGHT THOUGH FAIRLY WEAK.  MOST AREAS SOME SOME
PCPN THOUGH NOT MUCH IN BUCKET.  AIR MASS E SIDE SHOULD MODERATE SOME
FROM TONIGHT SO NOT MUCH FREEZING RAIN THREAT.  COLD FRONT STILL
OFFSHORE SAT MORNING PUSHES ASHORE WEAKLY DURING THE DAY AS FLOW
REMAINS SPLIT.

.LONG TERM...NO CHANGES MADE.  KOSOVITZ

AST 288476  PDX 178366  SLE 178376 EUG 178376

.PQR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE.

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Northern Oregon Cascades

When: December 27, 2:00 AM PST to December 28, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Northern Oregon Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

Winter Storm, Western Columbia River Gorge

When: December 27, 2:00 AM PST to December 28, 3:00 PM PST
Where: Western Columbia River Gorge forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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: 5275469, 5275470.