Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 31, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-31T03:00
End: 2002-01-31T21:00
Location: Oregon

January 31, 2002 · NWS PQR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy snows fell in the Cascades. Santiam Pass reported 14 inches, Mt Hood Meadows 11 inches, Tombstone 10 inches and Bennett Pass 7 inches.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 in the Cascades. Santiam Pass reported 14 inches, Mt Hood Meadows 11 inches, Tombstone 10 inches and Bennett Pass 7 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 31, 2:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 2:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
230 AM PST THU JAN 31 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL BRING RAIN TODAY MOVING THROUGH LATE IN
THE DAY AND FOLLOWED BY SHOWERS. A BRIEF BREAK IS EXPECTED FRIDAY
AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE A STRONGER PACIFIC SYSTEM BRINGS
ADDITIONAL RAIN SATURDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...RAIN IN WARM AIR ADVECTION AHEAD OF A PACIFIC FRONT.
FOLLOWING THE AVIATION...THE COLD FRONT MOVES TO THE COAST THIS
AFTERNOON AND IS THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA BY LATE EVENING. RIDGING
BETWEEN SYSTEMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY SATURDAY. WEAK OROGRAPHIC
FLOW AND FRONT LOOKS WEAK JUDGING FROM 06Z HAND PACIFIC ANALYSIS SO
WILL KEEP SNOW AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS.

.LONG TERM...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE THE THREAT OF RAIN THROUGH
THE EXTENDED PERIOD. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES EXPECTED. SYSTEM DUE LATE
MONDAY INTO TUESDAY WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED WITH STILL LOW LEVEL SNOW
ON THE GROUND AND A MOISTURE STREAM EXTENDING FROM LOW LATITUDES.
STARMER

AST +8578 PDX 99555 SLE 89545 EUG 89535

.PQR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COASTAL WATERS.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Oregon Cascades

When: January 31, 3:00 AM PST to 9:00 PM PST
Where: Northern Oregon Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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, 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: 5278197.