Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 11 to 12, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 11 to 12, 2001
Start: 2001-01-11T18:00
End: 2001-01-12T08:00
Location: Oregon

January 11 to 12, 2001 · NWS BOI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 11, 2:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 2:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
245 PM MST THU JAN 11 2001

MAJOR OPEN WAVE SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE WESTERN U.S AT THIS TIME.
IMPACT ON CWFA HAS BEEN MINIMAL THUS FAR HOWEVER WITH TRAJECTORY
FLOWS NOT THAT FAVORABLE FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIP EVENT OR WINTER
HIGHLIGHTS. EXCEPTIONS TO THIS ARE CAMAS PRAIRIE AND BOISE MOUNTAIN
ZONES WHERE SOUTHERLY INFLOW COMPONENT IS FAVORABLE FOR SEVERAL
SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW AS AIR PARCELS UPSLOPE. FARTHER WEST OVER THE
OREGON ZONES...A COMBINATION EVENT IS STILL ON-GOING WITH
SNOW...RAIN AND POCKETS OF FREEZING RAIN OCCURRING IN THE COLD AIR
TRAPPED VALLEYS. SYNOPTICALLY...EXPECT TRIPLE POINT TO PASS OVER
SOUTHWEST IDAHO EARLY THIS EVENING WITH THE BEST CHANCE AND HEAVIER
QPF AMOUNTS TO OCCUR AROUND THIS TIME...CORRESPONDING WITH BEST
DYNAMIC FIELDS. BEYOND MIDNIGHT...POPS TEND TO DIMINISH TO MORE OF
THE SCATTERED VARIETY AND CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW IN THE POST
OCCLUSION AIR MASS. MODELS GENERALLY AGREE ON FORMING A CLOSED LOW
OVER SOUTHWEST IDAHO TONIGHT BUT BY THEN THE BULK OF THE SYNOPTIC
MOISTURE HAS MOVED EAST OR SHEARED APART. THUS...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS
BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA EXPECTED IN THE WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND
WESTWARD. SNAKE RIVER VALLEY LOCATIONS SHOULD SEE NUMEROUS SHOWERS
THIS EVENING NEAR FRONTAL ZONE THEN CHANGE OVER TO SNOW SHOWERS AS
FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY/UPVALLEY ACROSS THE AREA. LINGERING MOISTURE
TO STAY OVER THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY AND POSSIBLY BEYOND AS UPPER
TROUGH IS SLOW TO OPEN UP AND EXIT THE REGION. WILL KEEP SCATTERED
POPS GOING IN THE LATER PERIODS OF THE FORECAST WITH TEMPS A LITTLE
COLDER THAN TODAY.

EXTENDED...LONG RANGE MODELS KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE AREA
ON SUNDAY THEN DRYING BY MONDAY AND TUESDAY. TEMPS TO START OFF COLD
THEN MODERATE SOMEWHAT TO SEASONABLE LEVELS EARLY NEXT WEEK.
MOISTURE COMING THROUGH THE BUILDING RIDGE THEN LEADS TO ADDITIONAL
PRECIP CHANCES FOR WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY ALTHOUGH THIS REMAINS A TOUGH
CALL AT THIS TIME.

.BOI...SNOW ADVISORY CONTINUED THIS EVENING ZONES 13 AND 28.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUED THIS EVENING FOR ZONES 62
        AND 63.

G.SKARI

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Baker

When: January 11, 6:00 PM MST to January 12, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Baker forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.709, -117.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An Eastern Pacific storm system brought several inches of snow to the southeast Oregon and southwest Idaho mountains. Heavy snow amounts were isolated to Baker County, Oregon where reports ranged from 6 inches in Baker City and Halfway to up to 12 inches in Keating. Snowfall reports in other mountain sites were generally less than 6 inches.

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, January 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: 5229658.