1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 3, 2:45 AM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
245 AM PST THU JAN 3 2002
A SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE TILTED UPPER TROUGH CONTINUES TO SWING INTO THE
PACNW EARLY THIS MORNING. ALSO A BAND OF DEEP MOISTURE IS MOVING
NORTH ACROSS EXTREME EASTERN OREGON/SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.
TEMPERATURES VARY WILDLY AND THE RESULTING PRECIP IS EITHER RAIN OR
SNOW. THERE MAY ALSO BE SOME PATCHES OF FREEZING RAIN. WILL KEEP
SOME PRECIP GOING IN THIS AREA THROUGH THE MORNING. ELSEWHERE EXPECT
SOME ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS (AGAIN A MIX OF PRECIP TYPES)
THIS MORNING AS THE UPPER TROUGH MOVES OVER THE LARGE AREA OF LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE TRAPPED OVER CENTRAL OREGON AND WASHINGTON. AREAS OF
DENSE FOG CONTINUE ACROSS THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS AND PORTIONS
OF NORTH CENTRAL OREGON...AND WILL ISSUE A DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR
THIS MORNING. COLD AIR ADVECTION AND A TURN TO WEST WINDS ALOFT LATE
THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON WILL BRING AND END TO THE PRECIP IN
MOST AREAS...WHILE HELPING TO BREAK UP THE LOW CLOUDS AND FOG. THE
WEST FLOW WILL KEEP A FEW SNOW SHOWERS GOING IN THE EASTERN
MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING...OTHERWISE SHOULD SEE PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES.
WILL PROBABLY HAVE SOME FOG REDEVELOPMENT AS WELL DUE TO LIGHT WINDS
AND DECENT RADIATIONAL COOLING. INVERSIONS WILL BE WEAK...SO THE FOG
SHOULD NOT BE AS WIDESPREAD. AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA
FRIDAY. THIS WILL KEEP CONDITIONS DRY...WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES.
AREAS THAT GET FOG REDEVELOPMENT TONIGHT WILL PROBABLY KEEP IT
THROUGH MUCH OF FRIDAY AS INVERSIONS ARE TOUGH TO BREAK THIS TIME OF
YEAR. GKH
EXTENDED...THE SHORTWAVE RIDGE SHIFTS EASTWARD INTO IDAHO LATE
FRIDAY NIGHT ALLOWING A WEAK SYSTEM TO OVERRIDE THE RIDGE AND ACROSS
WASHINGTON LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE RIDGE FLATTENS AND A
SERIES OF SYSTEMS WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SATURDAY
THROUGH MONDAY. DAYS 6 AND 7 LOOK DRY FOR NOW...BUT BELIEVE THE MRF
IS TOO STRONG WITH REBUILDING THE RIDGE. WILL WAIT AND SEE IF NEXT
RUN SHOWS A DIFFERENT PATTERN BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES. SMITH
PDT 310 ALW 310 PSC 210 YKM 200
.KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
.KPDT...DENSE FOG ADVISORY THIS MORNING FOR WASHINGTON ZONE 29 AND
OREGON ZONES 42 AND 45.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell overnight in Wallowa County. Joseph, at 4085 feet reported 8 inches of snow. Enterprise, at 3800 feet, reported between 7 and 8 inches of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, January 2002
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: 5277391.