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 Dec 26, 8:30 PM PST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
830 PM PST THU DEC 26 2002
A MOIST SW FLOW ALOFT ALONG WITH A WEAK SURFACE WARM FRONT MOVED
ACROSS EASTERN OREGON AND SE WASHINGTON...PROVIDING WIDESPREAD RAIN
AND MOUNTAIN SNOW OVER THE BASIN AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. INFRARED
LOOPS AND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATE DRYING BEHIND THE SYSTEM SO EXPECT
PRECIPITATION TO TAPER OFF WITHIN A COUPLE OF HOURS. THE FORECAST
AREA WILL SEE A BRIEF BREAK THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING...THEN A
VIGOROUS SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND. THE TRIPLE POINT OF THE SURFACE
OCCLUDED FRONT WILL MOVE NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BY 4
AM FRIDAY THEN TOWARDS VANCOUVER ISLAND BY 10 AM FRIDAY. A SNOW
ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS
TONIGHT. THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE DECENT UPSLOPING AT THE SURFACE
UP TO 5000 FEET FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION. THE QUESTION IS THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COLD AIR DAMMING ALONG THE EAST SLOPES.
TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S ACROSS THE YAKIMA AND
KITTITAS VALLEYS...YET DEWPOINTS ARE NEAR 30F. SNOW AMOUNTS MAY FALL
JUST AROUND THE 2 INCHES REQUIRED FOR AN ADVISORY...SO WILL KEEP
ADVISORY GOING. ANOTHER WEATHER CONCERN WILL BE WINDS IN THE GRANDE
RONDE VALLEY TONIGHT. LADD CANYON FROM ODOT HAS REPORTED WINDS
SUSTAINED AT 30-35 MPH. SURFACE GRADIENTS WILL TIGHTEN AND STRONGER
WINDS ARE EXPECTED BY FRIDAY MORNING.
STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENTS ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL RESULT
IN A DAY OF VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION. A HIGH WIND
WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
WASHINGTON AND EASTERN OREGON FOR FRIDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL INCREASE
TO 5500-6000 FEET FRIDAY WITH SLIGHTLY COLDER AIR SPREADING EAST OF
THE CASCADES FRIDAY NIGHT.
MINOR UPDATES WILL BE MADE TO FORECAST TONIGHT. SMITH
PDT 7763 ALW 7763 PSC 6642 YKM 7762
.KPDT...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY FOR MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND
THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN...WASHINGTON ZONES 28...29 AND 30
AND OREGON ZONES 42...43...44...45...46...47 AND 48 FOR
FRIDAY.
...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS
VALLEYS...WASHINGTON ZONES 26 AND 27 FOR TONIGHT AND
TOMORROW MORNING.ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-271430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 630 AM PST THU DEC 26 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE...TODAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. NUMEROUS RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF TO SCATTERED MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS BY LATE MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST WASHINGTON BEGINNING EARLY FRIDAY MORNING...AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA BY FRIDAY EVENING. THIS WILL TIGHTEN PRESSURE GRADIENTS RESULTING IN VERY WINDY CONDITIONS FRIDAY. A MID LEVEL JET STREAM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION AND ALLOW FOR POSSIBLE MIXING OF STRONG WINDS ALOFT DOWN TO THE SURFACE. THUS CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR STRONG WINDS TO OCCUR. A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FROM EARLY FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING. SEE THE LATEST HIGH WIND WATCH PDXNPWPDT OR WWUS76 KPDT FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
723 PM PST THU DEC 26 2002
TIME(PST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0350 PM TOLLGATE OR SNOW
12/26/02 UMATILLA 9 INCHES OF NEW SNOW
FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. ELEV 5100 FEET.
0525 PM 1 W MEACHAM OR SNOW
12/26/02 UMATILLA 4 TO 5 INCHES OF NEW
SNOW FROM WEDNESDAY
NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. ELEV 3820 FEET.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
723 PM PST THU DEC 26 2002
TIME(PST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0350 PM TOLLGATE OR SNOW
12/26/02 UMATILLA 9 INCHES OF NEW SNOW
FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. ELEV 5100 FEET.
0525 PM 1 W MEACHAM OR SNOW
12/26/02 UMATILLA 10 TO 12 INCHES OF NEW
SNOW FROM WEDNESDAY
NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. ELEV 3820 FEET.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Four inches of snow fell in the city of Ellensburg.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 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: 5324054.