Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, February 22, 2001
Start: 2001-02-22T16:00
End: 2001-02-22T22:00
Location: Oregon

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $35,000
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 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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 22, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
230 PM PST THU FEB 22 2001

UPPER LOW ALONG THE COAST OF SOUTHERN OREGON WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS
SOUTHERN OREGON TONIGHT AND KEEP WRAP AROUND MOISTURE STREAMING
ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON...THE OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS AND THE BLUE
MOUNTAINS THROUGH TONIGHT FOR SNOW SHOWERS AND ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS. HOWEVER...UPSLOPE FLOW AGAINST THE EAST SLOPES OF THE
CENTRAL OREGON CASCADES WILL PROVIDE LIFT FOR SNOW IN CENTRAL OREGON
THROUGH THIS EVENING. WILL KEEP SNOW ADVISORY GOING FOR REMAINDER OF
THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING IN CENTRAL OREGON. THE COLUMBIA
BASIN AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT FOR DRIER CONDITIONS TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. ONLY
EXCEPTION WILL BE AREAS OF SNOW ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE
SOUTHERN WASHINGTON CASCADES WASHINGTON CASCADES FRIDAY AND FRIDAY
NIGHT. THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS WILL SEE SNOW FLURRIES FRIDAY
FROM OROGRAPHIC LIFT WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. WILL LOWER POPS FOR
TODAY TO CHANCE CATEGORY FOR FOOTHILLS OF BLUES AND SLIGHT CHANCE
FOR LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND YAKIMA VALLEY/KITTITAS VALLEY.
SHORT WAVE CONTINUE MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHEAST
WASHINGTON FRIDAY NIGHT FOR LIGHT SNOW IN THE NORTHERN BLUE
MOUNTAINS. WEAK RIDGING ALOFT ON SATURDAY OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
POLAN

EXTENDED...A CLOSED UPPER LEVEL LOW AND ASSOCIATED TROUGH WILL MOVE
ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE PACNW SUNDAY AND
MONDAY...BRINGING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE BASINS AND VALLEYS WITH
SNOW OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. A DRIER COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS
BUILDS IN BEHIND THE EXITING TROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...SO EXPECT
DECREASING CLOUDS AND COLDER TEMPERATURES THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE MRF
MODEL IS MUCH COLDER THAN THE AVN. WILL GO WITH THE AVN SOLUTION AT
THIS TIME...UNTIL WE BEGIN TO SEE HOW COLD THE AIRMASS ACTUALLY IS
AS IT MOVES THROUGH SOUTHERN CANADA. THURSDAY A MINOR DISTURBANCE
MOVES THROUGH THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW.
FARMER

PDT 3221  ALW 3221  PSC 0020  YKM 0120

.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

.KPDT...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING ABOVE 3500 FEET IN OREGON
        ZONE 43.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Central Oregon

When: February 22, 4:00 PM PST to 10:00 PM PST
Where: Central Oregon forecast zone
Property damage: $35,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Snow amounts ranging from 6 to 9 inches fell in a 6 hour period in southern Deschutes County. Spotters in Bend reported 6 1/2 inches total accumulation, which made this the heaviest snow of the season. At times, the snow fell at a rate of 1 1/2 inches an hour. The heavy wet snow also brought isolated power outages during the evening. 600 customers of the Pacific Power Company in Bend lost power for around an hour between 8 and 9 pm. A minor accident closed Highway 97 near Lava Butte briefly. In addition, a jackknifed truck just southeast of Sisters closed Highway 20 for an hour during the early evening. Nearby, 9 miles west of La Pine, 9 inches of snow fell in 5 hours.

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, February 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: 5231768.