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 13, 2:40 AM PST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON 240 AM PST SAT DEC 13 2003 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY...A WARM FRONT IS LIFTING NORTH ACROSS OREGON AND WASHINGTON TODAY...BRINGING RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW TO THE REGION. RAIN IS ALREADY OCCURRING ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON...AND HAS WORKED ITS WAY INTO THE DALLES AND THE BASIN. SNOW LEVELS WILL ALSO BE RISING TODAY TO AROUND 6000 FEET ACROSS THE AREA. ONE CONCERN WILL BE POSSIBLE RIVER RISES WITH RECENT SNOW MELT IN COMBINATION WITH THIS RAIN...ALTHOUGH RIVERS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW BANKFULL. ANOTHER MAJOR CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM IS THE POSSIBILITY OF MIXED PRECIPITATION THAT MAY OCCUR ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES AND INTO THE KITTITAS AND YAKIMA VALLEYS THIS MORNING. COLD AIR IS TRAP IN THESE AREAS...AND THE WARM AIR OVER RUNNING THE COLD AIR MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED PATCHES OF FREEZING RAIN ALONG WITH SNOW AND RAIN. WILL ALSO BE DROPPING THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY THIS MORNING FOR THE YAKIMA VALLEY WITH MORNING ISSUANCE...AS THE DENSE FOG HAS DISSIPATED. QUICK ON THE HEALS OF THIS WARM FRONT...THE COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. AN ABUNDANCE OF MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM IN COMBINATION WITH LOWERING SNOW LEVELS AND UPSLOPE FLOW INTO THE BLUES MOUNTAINS MAY BE AN AREA OF CONCERN SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...AND I AM THINKING ABOUT ISSUING A WINTER WEATHER WATCH FOR THIS AREA. OTHERWISE...SNOW LEVELS WILL BE DROPPING TO BELOW 2000 FEET ACROSS THE AREA BY SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS LINGERING ACROSS THE AREA. ON MONDAY...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA...GIVING US A BRIEF SPELL OF DRY WEATHER. PALMER .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT UNTIL WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY. THE GFS IS MORE PROGRESSIVE WHEREAS THE ECMWF IS BUILDING A DEEPER AND SLOWER SYSTEM. IN CONSIDERATION OF HOW PROGRESSIVE THE PATTERN HAS BEEN OF LATE...THE GFS GOT THE NOD AND AS SUCH...HAVE INCREASED THE POPS ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. DUE TO THE POSITION OF THE JET AND THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THESE SYSTEMS...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY. AS WITH ALL PROGRESSIVE PATTERNS...TIMING IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT...BUT CAN BE SURE THE WEATHER WILL BE CHANGING SOON AND OFTEN. PRECIPITATION SHOULD CONTINUE TO FAVOR MOUNTAIN SNOWS AND COLUMBIA BASIN RAINS DURING THE PERIOD. JACOBSON && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PENDLETON (AIRPORT) 49 35 42 / 50 70 60 WALLA WALLA 51 38 44 / 50 70 60 TRI-CITIES 48 34 42 / 50 70 50 YAKIMA 41 33 38 / 50 70 50 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. WA...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 4AM FOR THE YAKIMA VALLEY (ZONE 27). && 82
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 505 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2003 ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-131300- THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE... A SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE ZONAL FLOW THIS MORNING HAS BROUGHT AREAS OF RAIN AND SNOW TO THE REGION AS WELL AS ISOLATED POCKETS OF FREEZING RAIN IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN AND FOOTHILL OF THE BLUES MOUNTAINS. THE SNOW ACROSS THE BASIN AND FOOTHILLS WILL BE TRANSITIONING TO RAIN THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...SNOW WILL LINGER IN THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEYS...WHERE COLD AIR IS TRAPPED ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES AND IN THESE VALLEYS. PATCHY FOG IS ALSO LINGERING AROUND THE AREA...BUT WILL DISSIPATE AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES AS WELL. ROADWAYS MAY REMAIN ICY AND SLICK THIS MORNING...SO TAKE PRECAUTION ALONG ROADWAYS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...WITH UNSETTLED WEATHER PRESISTING THROUGH MIDWEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A weather spotter in Ellensburg reported 4.5 inches of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2003
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: 5331721.