Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 30, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 30, 2002
Start: 2002-12-30T09:00
End: 2002-12-30T19:00
Location: Oregon

December 30, 2002 · NWS BOI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A Picific storm moving through the area dropped 3 to 10 inches of snow fell over a widspread area with up to 18 inches falling in the mountains in the Wallowa Mountains northest of Baker City.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 3

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 Picific storm moving through the area dropped 3 to 10 inches of snow fell over a widspread area with up to 18 inches falling in the mountains in the Wallowa Mountains northest of Baker City.

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 Dec 30, 8:00 AM PST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 8:00 AM PST, 1 hour before

SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
900 AM MST MON DEC 30 2002

WILL UPDATE MALHEUR COUNTY TO EMPHASIZE ADDITIONAL SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS AND TREASURE VALLEY ZONES FOR HIGHER POPS. IN THE MEAN
TIME HAVE ISSUED SHORT TERM FORECAST FOR THE SNOW NOW SPREADING
ACROSS THE TREASURE VALLEY ZONES THIS MORNING. AMOUNTS LIGHT SO FAR
ON THE IDAHO SIDE BUT ACCUMULATIONS OF 4-7 INCHES REPORTED IN HARNEY
COUNTY AND MODERATE SNOW CONTINUES THERE. DONT EXPECT THAT MUCH IN
THE TREASURE VALLEY...1-4 INCHES AS FORECAST STILL WITHIN
REASON...BEFORE CHANGING TO RAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON. COLD AIR STILL
EXISTS BELOW 10K FT MSL. PRIOR TO 12Z WARMING HAD BEEN CONFINED
ABOVE 700 MB. WARMING AT LOWER ELEVATIONS WILL BE SLOW PROCESS AS
EVAPORATIVE COOLING FROM PRECIP KEEPING TEMPERATURES DOWN. HOWEVER
EXPECT WINDS AT ALL LEVELS WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SCOUR OUT COLD
VALLEY AIR BY EVENING. THAT BEING THE CASE THE COMBINATION STRONG
SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS OWYHEE MOUNTAINS AND DOWN VALLEY FLOW AT LOWER
ELEVATIONS WILL REDUCE QPFS IN THE TREASURE VALLEY. SO BOISE STORM
TOTALS SHOWN BY MODELS OF AROUND THREE QUARTER INCH MAY BE TOO HIGH.
BUT SIGNIFICANT MOUNTAIN SNOW AMOUNTS STILL EXPECTED. MODELS
CONTINUE CONSISTENT SO NO CHANGE IN THINKING FOR THE REMAINDER OF
THE FORECAST PERIOD.  /JT

.BOI...HEAVY SNOW WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT IDAHO ZONES 11 13 28
       29 AND OREGON ZONE 62.
       SNOW ADVISORY TODAY IDAHO ZONES 12 14 15 16 30 AND OREGON
ZONES        61 63 64

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Baker

When: December 30, 9:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Baker forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Malheur

When: December 30, 9:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Malheur forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Harney

When: December 30, 9:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Harney forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.064, -118.968 (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

Every storm in Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, December 2002

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: 5327286, 5327287, 5327288.