1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
230 PM PST TUE DEC 4 2001
A 110KT JET DIVING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IS SPREADING CLOUDS
ACROSS THE PENDLETON FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SCATTERED
LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS TO THE BLUE AND OCHOCO MOUNTAINS. ANOTHER FAST
MOVING SYSTEM...CURRENTLY OFF THE QUEEN CHAROLETTE ISLANDS...WILL
MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT. SITUATION WILL BE SIMILAR TO LAST
NIGHT WITH SNOW LEVELS LOWERING TO ABOUT 1000 FEET...BUT THE
PRECIPITATION WILL BE MINIMAL. A SOUTHERLY GRADIENT WILL KEEP MOST
OF THE BASIN AND SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS ON THE DRY
SIDE...BUT THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES AND THE NORTHERN
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUES WILL SEE AREAS OF SNOW DEVELOP OVERNIGHT.
WESTERLY FLOW BEHIND TONIGHT/S SYSTEM WILL JUST LEAVE SCATTERED
SHOWERS OVER THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY. THE NEXT IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM
IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. A
RATHER VIGOROUS WARM FRONT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM...RISING
SNOW LEVELS TO AROUND 4000 FEET. AN IMPRESSIVE JET...BOTH LOWER AND
UPPER LEVELS...WILL MOVE OVER THE PENDLETON FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY
FOR SOME INCREASED LIFT AND GOOD OROGRAPHIC FLOW OVER THE BLUES. QPF
AMOUNTS ARE BORDERLINE AT THIS TIME...BUT GIVEN THE ENHANCEMENT FROM
THE OROGRAPHIC FLOW WILL GO AHEAD AND ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR
LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR LOCATIONS ABOVE 4000 FEET.
WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FROM THE EASTERN GORGE OVER TO THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUES WEDNESDAY IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE MENTIONED
JETS. MEAD
IN THE EXTENDED...AN UPPER RIDGE IS STILL EXPECTED TO BUILD OVER THE
AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. SHOULD SEE SOME LINGERING PRECIP...
MAINLY OVER THE EASTERN ZONES...THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE LAST OF THE
WARM AIR ADVECTION EXITS THE AREA. THE RIDGE SHOULD BE IN PLACE
THROUGH SATURDAY...BUT WILL BE DIRTY WITH WEAK SYSTEMS MOVING
THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA. THUS WILL KEEP SOME MENTION OF PRECIP IN
THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS DUE TO CONTINUED UPSLOPE FLOW...AND
ALONG THE WASHINGTON CASCADE EAST SLOPES DUE TO SLOP OVER FROM THE
WEST SIDE. ANOTHER SYSTEM LOOKS TO MOVE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY WITH
YET ANOTHER APPROACHING ON TUESDAY. SINCE TIMING IS UNCERTAIN...WILL
KEEP LAST THREE DAYS ALL UNSETTLED. GKH
PDT 4464 ALW 6464 PSC 4363 YKM 6163
.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
.KPDT...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR OREGON ZONES 46 AND 48 AND WASHINGTON
ZONE 30 LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell overnight at elevations above 4500 feet in the northern Blue Mountains. Tollgate, at an elevation of 5100 feet, reported 14 inches of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, December 2001
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: 5273524.