Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, January 24 to 27, 2002
Start: 2002-01-24T02:00
End: 2002-01-27T12:00
Location: Washington

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.

Another winter storm brought heavy snows to the area. Brush Prairie reported 6 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 23, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
830 PM PST WED JAN 23 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A WARM FRONT WILL PRODUCE SOME LIGHT RAIN AND MOUNTAIN
SNOW THROUGH TONIGHT. AN ADVANCING STRONG COLD FRONT WILL INCREASE
THE RAIN THURSDAY...WITH RAIN BECOMING HEAVY AT TIMES. WINDS WILL
INCREASE ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE COASTAL WATERS. THE FRONT IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE INLAND THURSDAY NIGHT. A COLD UPPER TROUGH WILL KEEP
SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON UNDER COOL SHOWERY
CONDITIONS FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS.

.DISCUSSION...
.SHORT TERM...APPROACHING SYSTEM NOW TAPPING INTO MOISTURE OUT NEAR
150 W SOUTH OF 40N...AND THIS BEING REFLECTED IN THE INCREASING
ECHOES OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF OUR FORECAST AREA ON THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR. MODELS NOW SHOWING A LITTLE MORE
PRECIPITATION OVER OUR NORTHERN AREAS TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY IN
LINE WITH SATELLITE AND RADAR TRENDS. THEN THE RAIN REALLY INCREASES
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES AND THE 850
MB INFLOW INCREASES. WILL NEED TO CONSIDER GOING WITH A FLOOD WATCH
FOR THE RIVERS DRAINING THE COAST RANGE...BUT WILL WAIT TO SEE THE
AVIATION MODEL FIRST. WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE CASCADES STILL LOOKS
GOOD AND WILL BE CONTINUED. WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT LOOK TO BE
FAIRLY STRONG...AND THE MESO ETA CONTINUES TO DEVELOP A 60 TO 65 KT
LOW LEVEL JET ALONG THE OREGON COAST LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY
EVENING. WILL ISSUE A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE COASTAL HEADLANDS ON
THE OREGON SIDE FOR THIS...AND CONTINUE THE GALE WARNING.

THE MODELS APPEAR TO HAVE THE FRONT ONSHORE AND THROUGH THE NORTHWEST
PART OF THE AREA BY 12Z FRIDAY...A LITTLE EARLIER THAN 24 HOURS AGO.
MUCH COLDER AIR WILL SPREAD SOUTH THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA...WITH
VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE WEEKEND. STRENGTH AND
TIMING OF ANY SHORT WAVES MAY DETERMINE WHETHER SNOW GETS TO THE
VALLEY FLOOR.

.LONG TERM...NO CHANGE IN THE DAY SHIFT IDEA FOR NOW. MEDIUM RANGE
MODELS SIMILAR. CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE MRF WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY THE
AVIATION RUN. THE FEATURE TO WATCH HERE IS A LOW MOVING INTO WESTERN
WASHINGTON SUNDAY NIGHT. THE AVIATION IS A LITTLE WEAKER THAN THE
MRF...BUT IT IS ALSO A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH BRINGING MORE LOW SNOW
LEVELS. TOLLESON

AST 9++++9 PDX 79+++8 SLE 69+++8 EUG 58+++8

.PQR...GALE WARNING COASTAL WATERS.
       WINTER STORM WATCH CASCADES THU AND THU NIGHT.
       HIGH WIND WATCH N AND CENTRAL OREGON COAST THU AFTERNOON AND
         THU NIGHT.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sw Clark

When: January 24, 2:00 AM PST to January 27, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Sw Clark 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

More

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, 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: 5278186.