Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 19 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-01-19T02:00
End: 2002-01-21T13:00
Location: Oregon

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: 2

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 series of Pacific storms dropped a total of 16 to 26 inches of snow across Baker County during the weekend of January 19th through 21st. Snowfall in the Oregon Lower Treasure Valley was limited to the afternoon of the 20th when 2 to 3 inches fell.

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 18, 8:10 PM PST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 8:10 PM PST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
910 PM MST FRI JAN 18 2002

00Z MODELS SHOW NO BIG CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS RUNS. INITIAL SHORTWAVE
TROUGH USHERING IN NEW PATTERN MOVING ONSHORE PRESENTLY. ASSOCIATED
WARM MOIST OVERRUNNING JUST BEGINNING TO EXPAND SOUTH OVER OUR CWFA
WITH MYL REPORTING LIGHT SNOW. ALTHOUGH SOME MIXING HAS BROUGHT
WARMER AIR TO SURFACE IN A FEW PLACES LIKE PDT ALLOWING RAIN MOST
OF OUR FORECAST AREA STILL BURIED UNDER COLD AIR BELOW ABOUT 8000 FT
MSL. SO STILL LOOKS LIKE PRECIP WILL BE SNOW ALL ELEVATIONS AT LEAST
UNTIL SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM PUSHES IN SUNDAY. BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SURFACE PRESSURE PATTERN SHOWS ORIENTATION AND GRADIENT WHICH WOULD
ENABLE MIXING OUT OF COLDER AIR IN SOUTHERN VALLEYS. HOWEVER
SIGNIFICANT WARM MOIST ADVECTION AND SNOW THICKNESSES FOR MOUNTAIN
LOCATIONS STILL SUPPORT EXPECTATIONS OF SIGNIFICANT MOUNTAIN
ACCUMULATIONS AS MENTIONED IN CURRENT ZONES. HIGHLIGHTS REQUIRE NO
CHANGES AT THIS TIME.  /JT

.BOI...SNOW ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY OR ZONES 62
       AND ID ZONES 11 13 28.
       WINTER STORM WATCH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY ZONES 11
       13 28 29 15 AND OREGON ZONES 61 62 63.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Baker

When: January 19, 2:00 AM PST to January 21, 1:00 PM PST
Where: Baker forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.709, -117.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lower Treasure Valley

When: January 20, 2:00 PM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where: Lower Treasure Valley forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
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

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, January 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: 5280079, 5280080.