Heavy Snow, Baker
- When
- November 28, 3:00 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Baker forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 44.709, -117.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Oregon, November 28, 2001
m. the next day.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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 BOI wrote it up.
A strong Pacific system that had tapped into a plume of tropical moisture dumped heavy snow across Southeast Oregon, causing the closure of Interstate 84 between Baker City and Ontario from late on the morning of the 28th until 8 a.m. the next day. Six to ten inches of snow fell across the area but blowing and drifting of the snow made accurate measurement difficult. Numerous slide-offs and motor vehicle collisions occurred but no injuries were reported.
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 Nov 28, 2:45 PM PST, 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 28, 2:45 PM PST, 15 minutes before
SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO 345 PM MST THU NOV 28 2001 COLD FRONT ALONG SRN ORE-IDA BORDER WITH RAIN SHOWERS, SNOW LEVEL ABOUT 4K, THERE EASTWARD THROUGH THE CENTRAL MTNS, TREASURE VALLEY AND HIGHLANDS THIS AFTERNOON WILL SHIFT EAST THIS EVENING. LITTLE BIT OF WINDS 10-LOCALLY 25 MPH BEHIND FRONT EXPECTED TO BE SHORT LIVED. THEN CLEARING PATCH EAST OF THE CASCADES (THOUGH IT HAD CUED UP WITH AFTN HEATING/COLD AIR ALOFT) OVER CWFA TONIGHT TO ALLOW COOLING AND SOME VALLEY FOG ESPECIALLY OVER NEW SNOW/WET GROUND. NEXT SYSTEM SEEN ON SATELLITE INSIDE 130W OFF WA-ORE-NCAL COAST LIFTS NE FRIDAY BRUSHING SE OREGON AND THE W-CENTRAL MTNS WITH LOW POPS/LOW QPF. FAST AND DEVELOPING SYSTEM OUT NEAR 45/170W PUMPS UP MOIST THETA-E RIDGE INTO SE OREGON SATURDAY FOR LIKELY POPS MOST AREA, THEN A COLD FRONT PUSHES TO FAR SW IDAHO SATURDAY EVENING CHANGING PRECIP TO SHOWERS OVER SE OREGON SAT AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS INCREASING TO AROUND 5K SOUTH SAT AND TO 3.5K NORTH - BUT COOL OFF AGAIN WITH THE CDFNT SAT EVENING. MORE ENERGY IN FAST PACIFIC FLOW DEVELOPS OFF ORE-NCAL COAST SAT NIGHT AND BRINGS DEVELOPING SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN SUNDAY MORNING NEAR THE NEVADA BORDER AND SUNDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE VALLEYS AND BKE-MYL NRN MTN AREAS. COLDER PUSH WITH UPPER TROF FROM THIS SYSTEM SUNDAY NIGHT WITH ANOTHER UPPER TROF FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS MONDAY. UPPER ENERGY IMPULSES EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NNNN MILLS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Harney
- When
- November 28, 3:00 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Harney forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 43.064, -118.968 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Lower Treasure Valley
- When
- November 28, 3:00 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Lower Treasure Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Malheur
- When
- November 28, 3:00 PM PST to 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Malheur forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Flooding in Tennessee, November 28 to 30, 2001
- Flooding in Mississippi, November 28 to 30, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Mississippi, November 28 to 29, 2001
- High Wind in Washington, November 28, 2001
- Ice Storm in Arkansas, November 28 to 29, 2001
- Ice Storm in Oklahoma, November 28 to 29, 2001
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, November 28, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Louisiana, November 28 to 29, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, November 28 to 29, 2001
- Flooding in Kentucky, November 28 to 30, 2001
- Flooding in Arkansas, November 28 to 30, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Washington, November 28, 2001
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, November 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: 5273448, 5273449, 5273450, 5273451.