Heavy Snow, Central Coast Range of W Oregon
- When
- January 27, 9:00 AM PST to January 28, 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Coast Range of W Oregon forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 27 to 28, 2002
Heavy snows fell across the Coastal Mountains and Willamette Valley. Portland General Electric reported 7000 homes lost power in the Salem, Silverton, Scotts Mills, Turner and Jefferson areas due to snow ladened trees and branches snapping and falling into power lines.
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 PQR wrote it up.
Heavy snows fell across the Coastal Mountains and Willamette Valley. Portland General Electric reported 7000 homes lost power in the Salem, Silverton, Scotts Mills, Turner and Jefferson areas due to snow ladened trees and branches snapping and falling into power lines. In the Coast Range, Sunset Summit reported 20 inches, Wilson River Summit reported 16 inches, Buxton 22 inches, and Swiss Home 14 inches. along the coast Nehalem reported 4 inches of new snow. In the Willamette Valley, Oregon City had 3 inches, Tigard 4 inches, Salem 3 to 4 inches, Corvallis 4 inches, Portland 2 inches, SW Portland 4 inches, and Skyline Boulevard 7.5 inches.
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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 27, 8:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 8:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before
NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 AM PST SUN JAN 27 2002
.SYNOPSIS...A COLD UPPER LOW OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST WILL WEAKEN AND
DROP SOUTH TO THE NORTH OREGON COAST BY MONDAY. THIS WILL SPIN A COLD
SHOWERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS INLAND OVER THE FORECAST AREA. THE LOW WILL
WEAKEN FURTHER AND DROP SOUTH OF THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT. BREAKS IN THE
CLOUDS SHOULD BRING THE COLDEST NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES MONDAY NIGHT.
.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...SATELLITE AND RADAR SHOW SHOWERS OVER THE AREA TO WELL
OFF THE COAST ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD UPPER TROUGH. MORE SNOW
REPORTS THIS MORNING TO THE VALLEY FLOOR. CURRENT WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES LOOK GOOD. WILL WAIT FOR THE AVIATION MODEL BEFORE
DECIDING WEATHER TO EXTEND THEM THROUGH TONIGHT. SO LITTLE CHANGES TO
ZONES.
LONG TERM...NO CHANGE. STARMER
AST +9611 PDX +9611 SLE +9611 EUG 98611
.PQR...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY COAST RANGE...CASCADE FOOTHILLS
AND SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADES.
SNOW ADVISORY TODAY ELSEWHERE.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COASTAL WATERS.In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jan 27, 8:55 AM PST, 5 minutes before
ORC005-047-280200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 855 AM PST SUN JAN 27 2002 WILLAMETTE TRIBUTARIES BULLETIN NO. 15 ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS... PUDDING RIVER IN CLACKAMAS AND MARION COUNTIES ORC005-047-280000- PUDDING RIVER AT AURORA MOST RECENT READING: 20.9 FT / 5483 CFS AT 2 PM SATURDAY FLOOD STAGE ---> 22.0 FT / 6300 CFS (DATUM 72.2 FT) FORECAST / REMARKS: THIS RIVER IS FORECAST TO RISE TO AROUND FLOOD STAGE AROUND NOON TODAY AND THEN SLOWLY RECEDE. EXPECT MINOR FLOODING OF LOWLAND AGRICULTURAL LANDS. SOME MINOR ACCESS ROADS MAY BE FLOODED ALONG THE RIVER AT THIS LEVEL. RIVER STAGE FORECASTS ARE BASED ON OBSERVED AND FORECAST RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES. IF ACTUAL RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES VARY FROM THE FORECAST VALUES...THE RIVER STAGE WILL VARY ACCORDINGLY. RIVER FORECASTS INCLUDE CURRENT AND PLANNED RESERVOIR RELEASES. FOR THE LATEST RIVER STAGES AND FORECASTS...VISIT OUR WEB PAGE AT HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PORTLAND/PUBLICHYDRO (LOWER CASE). THE NEXT UPDATE FOR THESE LOCATIONS WILL BE ISSUED BY 6 PM.
Event by event
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Central Willamette Valley
- When
- January 27, 9:00 AM PST to January 28, 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Willamette Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Coast Range of Nw Oregon
- When
- January 27, 9:00 AM PST to January 28, 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Coast Range of Nw Oregon forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Greater Portland Metro Area
- When
- January 27, 9:00 AM PST to January 28, 9:00 PM PST
- Where
- Greater Portland Metro Area forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
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
- Winter Storm in Utah, January 27 to 29, 2002
- Heat in New Jersey, January 27 to 30, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 27, 2002
- Heat in Pennsylvania, January 27 to 30, 2002
- Rip Current in Guam, January 27, 2002
- Winter Weather in California, January 27 to 29, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, January 27 to 28, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, January 27 to 30, 2002
- Heat in Delaware, January 27 to 30, 2002
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 27 to 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Alaska, January 27 to 28, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Montana, January 27, 2002
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5278187, 5278188, 5278189, 5278190.