High Wind in Oregon, December 8, 2004

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
300 AM PST WED DEC 8 2004

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...CURRENT WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY SHOWS AN IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM PLOWING INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST THIS MORNING...WITH RADAR IMAGERY LIT UP ACROSS BOTH SIDES
OF THE STATES.  PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS SEEM TO BE RANGING GREATLY
BASED ON LOCATION...ANYWHERE FROM A FEW HUNDREDTHS IN THE VALLEYS TO
ALMOST A HALF INCH ALONG THE EAST SLOPES AND IN THE MOUNTAINS.  WITH
THE RAIN CONTINUING THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY...BELIEVE WE COULD SEE
BETWEEN A TENTH TO NEARLY HALF AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION WITH THIS
SYSTEM.  SNOW LEVELS ARE APPROXIMATELY RANGING BETWEEN 3500 AND 4000
FEET EAST OF THE CASCADES THIS MORNING...WITH SNOW ACCUMULATING
ABOVE 4000 FEET.   WINDY CONDITIONS ARE ALSO ACCOMPANYING THIS
SYSTEM...SUPPORTED BY A 40 TO 45 KNOT JET AT 850 MILLIBARS.  AS A
RESULT...WITH KEEP THE THE WINTER STORM WARNINGS AS WELL AS THE SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW AND WIND ADVISORIES GOING THROUGH THROUGH TODAY.

ANOTHER WEAK SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE VERY MOIST ZONAL FLOW
TONIGHT...CONTINUING THE THREAT OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS
OVERNIGHT.  A WARM FRONT WITH THEN LIFT OVER THE REGION FROM SOUTH
TO NORTH ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH RAIN CONTINUING
ACROSS THE REGION.  SNOW LEVELS WILL INITIALLY RANGE BETWEEN 4000
AND 5000 FEET THURSDAY MORNING...AND RISE TO BETWEEN 6500 AND 7500
FEET THURSDAY NIGHT.  AS SNOW LEVELS RISE AND THE THREAT OF RAIN
CONTINUES...AREA RIVERS AND CREEKS WILL SLOWLY SEE A RISE.
HOWEVER...DO NOT BELIEVE FLOODING WILL BE A THREAT AT THIS TIME.
PALMER

.LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...LATEST MODEL RUNS REMAIN IN
RATHER GOOD AGREEMENT. FRIDAY SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON AND EASTERN
OREGON WILL BE IN THE WARM SECTOR SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT WITH MILD
TEMPERATURES. TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENTS AND 40-50 KNOT WINDS AT 850
MB MIXING TO THE SURFACE WILL KEEP BREEZY WINDS OVER THE AREA. CLOUD
COVER AND MIXING DUE TO WINDS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES UP FRIDAY
NIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH SATURDAY...BRINGING AN END TO
THE MILD TEMPERATURES AND LOWERING THE SNOW LEVEL SEVERAL THOUSAND
FEET. THE FRONT WILL STALL OVER SOUTHERN OREGON FOR SUNDAY...KEEPING
A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IN OREGON. UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL TURN
SOUTHERLY SUNDAY NIGHT AND ISENTROPIC LIFT OVER THE COOL SURFACE AIR
WILL BRING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. ISENTROPIC LIFT DECREASES
MONDAY AND TUESDAY LIMITING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION.  COONFIELD

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PENDLETON (AIRPORT) 058 042 050 / 070 050 050
WALLA WALLA         058 042 051 / 070 030 050
TRI-CITIES          057 039 050 / 060 020 040
YAKIMA              049 036 049 / 070 020 040
HERMISTON           060 038 051 / 060 030 040
ELLENSBURG          046 035 045 / 070 030 050
REDMOND             052 034 052 / 080 060 060
LA GRANDE           046 034 044 / 070 060 050
JOHN DAY            048 035 050 / 070 060 060
THE DALLES          052 039 051 / 060 040 050
&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...WINTER STORM WARNING ORZ 043 TODAY.
     WINTER STORM WARNING ORZ 050 THROUGH THIS MORNING.
     SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY ORZ 042 AND 048 TODAY.
     WIND ADVISORY ORZ 044-045 TODAY.
     WIND ADVISORY ORZ 049 THROUGH NOON TODAY.
WA...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY TODAY WAZ 025.
     WIND ADVISORY WAZ 028-029 TODAY.
&&

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON
82

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
306 PM PST TUE DEC 7 2004

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-081300-
NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-CENTRAL OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN (OR)-
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (OR)-BLUE MOUNTAINS-JOHN DAY BASIN-
OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-WALLOWA COUNTY-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE (WA)-
EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES-KITTITAS VALLEY-YAKIMA VALLEY-
LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN (WA)-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (WA)-
NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS-
306 PM PST TUE DEC 7 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.

.DAY ONE...

HEAVY SNOW TONIGHT
     NORTH CENTRAL OREGON, CENTRAL OREGON, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS,
     WALLOWA COUNTY

STRONG WIND TONIGHT
     GRANDE RONDE VALLEY

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

HEAVY SNOW WEDNESDAY
          EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES, NORTHWEST BLUE
          MOUNTAINS, NORTH CENTRAL OREGON, CENTRAL OREGON, BLUE
          MOUNTAINS, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS, WALLOWA COUNTY

STRONG WIND WEDNESDAY
          EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE (WA), KITTITAS VALLEY, YAKIMA
          VALLEY, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN (WA), FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE
          MOUNTAINS (WA), EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE (OR), LOWER
          COLUMBIA BASIN (OR), FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (OR),
          JOHN DAY BASIN, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY

A STRONG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE AREA TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY
BRINGING STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOWS ABOVE 4500 FEET. NUMEROUS
ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT. REFER TO LATEST PDXWSWPDT AND PDXNPWPDT
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING AREAWIDE.

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

PROTOTYPE GRAPHICAL FORECASTS OF WEATHER HAZARDS OUT TO SEVEN DAYS
ARE DISPLAYED ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:

WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PENDLETON/FORECAST/HWOGRAPHICS/HWOGRAPHICS.PHP

ALL LETTERS IN THE ABOVE URL ARE LOWER CASE...EXCEPT THE G IN
HWOGRAPHICS AND THE G IN HWOGRAPHICS.PHP.