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 22, 2:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
230 AM PST WED JAN 22 2003
THE NEXT IN A LINE OF WEATHER SYSTEMS IS BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE
PENDLETON FORECAST AREA. RADAR RETURNS ARE NOW EAST OF THE OREGON
CASCADES. WARM ADVECTION OVER THE REGION HAS INCREASED SNOW
LEVELS. HOWEVER...SOME COOLER AIR WILL REMAIN TRAPPED AT LOWER
ELEVATIONS. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A MIX OF PRECIP...SNOW MAINLY FROM
ELN/HMS NORTHWARD...POCKETS OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL BE
POSSIBLE FROM YKM TO PSC TO PDT. WITH THIS...SNOW AND WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN PLACE FOR THE MORNING. BY AFTERNOON...THE
WARM ADVECTION WILL SLOWLY MIX DOWN TOWARD THE LOWER TERRAIN TURNING
THE MIX OF PRECIP TO RAIN. SNOW LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE DURING
THE AFTERNOON REACHING 5000 TO 6000 FEET. THE PRECIP WILL END
OVERNIGHT AS THE SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION. HOWEVER...WITH THE
FRONTAL PASSAGE AND BEHIND THE FRONT...WINDS WILL INCREASE
SIGNIFICANTLY WITH LOCALLY VERY WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED OVER THE
BASIN AND FOOTHILLS. WE SHOULD BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS ON THURSDAY WITH
ANOTHER ONE PROGGED FOR THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY. MJB.
EXTENDED...PROGRESSIVE PATTERN THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH SEVERAL
SYSTEMS MOVING THROUGH. MOST IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM WILL COME THROUGH ON
SUNDAY. AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...THE WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL RAISE
SNOW LEVELS (TO AS HIGH AS 7500 FEET). THE TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL
LOWER SNOW LEVELS AGAIN TO AROUND 4000 FEET ON MONDAY. SUNDAY COULD
BE A BREEZY DAY AS WELL...BUT WILL WAIT FOR ANOTHER RUN OR TWO
BEFORE ADDING THAT INTO THE FORECAST. JR
PDT 731 ALW 731 PSC 631 YKM 731
.KPDT... A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR THE EAST
SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN WASHINGTON CASCADES AND THE KITTITAS
VALLEY (WASHINGTON ZONES 25 AND 26). A WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING FOR THE YAKIMA VALLEY...THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF
WASHINGTON AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
(WASHINGTON ZONES 27...28 AND 29 AND OREGON ZONE 45).ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-231300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 500 AM PST WED JAN 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE...WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. A WARM FRONT WILL BRING A MIXTURE OF SNOW...SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND RAIN TO PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST OREGON THIS MORNING. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE MIX OF WINTER PRECIPITATION. DETAILS ON THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN PDXWSWPDT (WWUS46 KPDT). .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... 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.
Six inches of snow fell nine miles north of Ellensburg, WA. Very light snow accumulations began occurring around 6:00 PM on the 21st, but the majority of the snowfall fell between 5:00 AM and 6:00 PM on the 22nd.
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, January 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: 5338166.