Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 7, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, January 7, 2004
Start: 2004-01-07T03:00
End: 2004-01-07T17:00
Location: Oregon

January 7, 2004 · NWS BOI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 BOI wrote it up.

A Pacific storm system with spread snow move eastward from the Pacifc Coast into Eastern Oregon the afternoon of Tuesday 6 January 2004. This system dropped 5 inches or more of new snow over much of Eastern Oregon Tuesday night into Wednesday morning before moving in to Idaho. Some snow amounts from this system were Drewsey with 5 inches, Baker City 5 inches and Halfway in northeast Baker County with 10 inches of new snow.

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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 6, 9:45 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 9:45 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
945 PM MST TUE JAN 06 2004

.DISCUSSION...ZONE FORECASTS ALREADY UPDATED FOR COOLER TEMPS/LOWER
SNOW LEVELS WED. HEAVY SNOW WARNING BAKER COUNTY LATER TONIGHT
THROUGH WED MORNING AND WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST ID NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND TREASURE VALLEY WED CONTINUES. L/WV UPPER LEVEL LOW
PRESSURE TROUGH IN EASTERN PACIFIC AND L/WV HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER
ROCKIES CONTINUES THROUGH THU/FRI WITH SERIES OF S/WV TROUGH
EJECTING NORTHEAST INTO REGION OUT OF L/WV TROUGH. 1ST S/WV ALONG
130W AT 03Z HAS ALREADY SPREAD SNOW INTO CWFA. THIS S/WV WILL WEAKEN
AS IT MOVES THROUGH AREA TONIGHT/WED BUT WILL HAVE ENOUGH SNOW TO
KEEP BAKER COUNTY SNOW WARNING. ACCUMULATIONS IN SOUTHWEST ID ARE
MORE DIFFICULT TO TELL DUE TO WEAKENING NATURE OF SYSTEM. 1-2 INCH
ACCUMULATION ALREADY IN LOWER TREASURE VALLEY BUT SNOW WILL TAPPER
OFF LATER TONIGHT AND WAIT FOR MAIN S/WV WED. HAVE LOWERED TEMPS WED
AND SNOW LEVELS WITH ETA/NGM/EUROPEAN MODELS ALL KEEPING LOW-LEVEL
COLD AIR MASS FROM BAKER COUNTY THROUGH SNAKE RIVER VALLEY LONGER
THAN GFS...THOUGH GFS HAS BEEN TRENDING COLDER WITH EACH MODEL RUN.
WAA PATTERN AHEAD OF 1ST S/WV HAS BEEN WARMING MOUNTAINS/HIGHER
ELEVATIONS ALREADY THIS EVENING AND EXPECT SNOW LEVELS NEAR NV
BORDER TO RISE TO AROUND 4K WED AFTERNOON AND 3K IN NORTHERN ZONES.
SNOW MIXED WITH RAIN POSSIBLE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY ZONES BUT HAVE HELD
THIS OFF TO AFTERNOON HOURS. STRONGER 2ND S/WV AROUND 145W MOVES
INTO AREA LATER WED NIGHT/THU WITH BETTER DYNAMICS THAN WED SYSTEM.
SNOW LEVELS CONTINUE TO RISE WITH THIS SYSTEM TO 4-5K NORTHERN ZONES
AND 5+K SOUTHERN ZONES BY THU MORNING. MAY NEED WINTER STORM WATCH
FOR THIS SYSTEM IN NORTHERN MOUNTAIN ZONES THU. WILL LOOK AT THIS
CLOSER.

.PREVIOUS SHORT TERM...MINOR BAND OF LIGHT SNOW EDGING NEWD THROUGH
IDAHO ZONES AT 21Z.  MAIN EVENT HOWEVER IS WEST OF US WITH ALL PROGS
SHOWING SIGNIFICANT SNOW MOVING IN OVERNIGHT AND WED. MODEL
CONSENSUS OF RH UVV QPF AND 30-40KT WEST WINDS ALOFT IMPACTING THE
MOUNTAINS SUGGEST THE EVENT COULD REACH HEAVY SNOW CRITERIA.  BOISE
MOUNTAINS POSITIONED TO GET THE MOST...SOMEWHAT LESS RH IS INDICATED
FURTHER SOUTH WHILE LESS MID-LEVEL LIFT IS INDICATED FURTHER NORTH.
THE TREASURE VALLEY COULD RECEIVE SEVERAL INCHES WITH THE SNOW AT
MAXIMUM INTENSITY DURING WEDNESDAY/S MORNING COMMUTING PERIOD. WARM
ADVECTION THROUGHOUT THE EVENT IN ALL AREAS...TEMPERATURES RISING
THROUGH THE 20S. IN THE TREASURE VALLEY TEMPS WILL REACH THE 30S
WEDNESDAY WITH 850-700 MB THICKNESS RISING PAST 1530M.  BUT WITH THE
COLDEST AIR CLOSEST TO THE SURFACE SNOW MAY CONTINUE ALL THE WAY TO
35 DEGS.  WE EXPECT SNOW TO FINALLY  MIX WITH RAIN IN THE TREASURE
VALLEY WED AFTERNOON.  CONTINUED WARMING WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH
FRIDAY WILL MELT MUCH OF THE SNOW IN THE LOWER VALLEYS AND THE SNOW
LEVEL WILL RISE ABOVE 4000 FEET THU...TO NEAR 5000 FEET FRIDAY.

.PREVIOUS LONG TERM.../FRI NGT THROUGH TUESDAY/ MOISTURE IS EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE TO MOVE IN AHEAD OF THE NEXT FRONT FRIDAY NIGHT AND INTO
SATURDAY WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE EXPECTED IN THE EARLY HOURS ON
SATURDAY. THIS FRONT WILL BRING A RAIN/SNOW MIX IN THE VALLEYS AND
MORE SNOWS TO THE MOUNTAINS. THIS SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION
FAIRLY QUICKLY...SO QPF WILL NOT BE THAT GREAT. SATURDAY AFTERNOON
HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGING MOVES INTO THE AREA WHICH PUSHES THE NEXT
FRONT WAY NORTH INTO THE BC COAST AND AS THIS SYSTEM CRESTS THE
RIDGE...EXPECT BREIF CLOUD COVER SUNDAY AFTERNOON...BUT NO POPS.
RIDGE REBOUNDS AND RETROGRADEDS BACK TO OFF THE WEST COAST TUESDAY
MORNING. WEAK WARM AIR ADVECTION MOVES BACK INTO THE REGION FOR
SLGHT CHC/CHC POPS DURING THE DAY ON TUESDAY.

&&

.BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.ID...WINTER STORM WATCH WED TREASURE VALLEY...BOISE MTNS...
      WEST CENTRAL MTNS...AND CAMAS PRAIRIE...ZNS 11-14 28
.OR...HEAVY SNOW WARNING LATE TONIGHT AND WED MORNING BAKER
      COUNTY...ZN 62.
      WINTER STORM WATCH WED OREGON LOWER TREASURE VALLEY...
      ZN 64.

&&

DISCUSSION...KP
SHORT TERM...LC
LONG TERM....CR

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 6, 3:00 PM MST, 12 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
300 PM MST TUE JAN 6 2004

ORZ062-071200-
BAKER COUNTY-
200 PM PST TUE JAN 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST OREGON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING
AND REPLACES THE SNOW ADVISORY.

SNOW WILL INCREASE LATE TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING WITH EXPECTED ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 8 INCHES. SNOW WILL
DECREASE TO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

HEAVY SNOW WARNING CONTINUES WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES.A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT LATE TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY MORNING AND REPLACES THE SNOW ADVISORY.

IDZ015-016-029-030-ORZ061-063-071200-
HARNEY COUNTY-MALHEUR COUNTY-OWYHEE MOUNTAINS-
SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY-SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY-
300 PM MST (200 PM PST) TUE JAN 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND
SOUTHEAST OREGON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

IDZ011-013-028-071200-
BOISE MOUNTAINS-CAMAS PRAIRIE-WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-
300 PM MST TUE JAN 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IDAHO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WEDNESDAY.

SNOW WILL SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA IN THE PRE-DAWN HOURS AND
INCREASE WEDNESDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATIONS MAY REACH 6 TO 10 INCHES
IN THE BOISE MOUNTAINS BUT SLIGHTLY LESS IN THE WEST CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS AND CAMAS PRAIRIE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES.A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT LATE TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY MORNING AND REPLACES THE SNOW ADVISORY.

IDZ012-014-ORZ064-071200-
LOWER TREASURE VALLEY-UPPER TREASURE VALLEY-
300 PM MST TUE JAN 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND
SOUTHEAST OREGON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WEDNESDAY.

SNOW WILL SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS THE TREASURE VALLEY AFTER MIDNIGHT
AND INCREASE WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE 3 TO 6 INCHES
AND COULD BE HEAVIEST DURING THE MORNING COMMUTING PERIOD. PERSONS
SHOULD ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR TRAVEL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES.A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT LATE TONIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY MORNING AND REPLACES THE SNOW ADVISORY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 7, 1:06 AM MST, 1 hour 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
106 AM MST WED JAN 07 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0900 PM     SNOW             BURNS                   43.59N 119.06W
01/06/2004  2.00 INCH        HARNEY             OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

0858 PM     HEAVY SNOW       HALFWAY                 44.88N 117.11W
01/06/2004  3.00 INCH        BAKER              OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

0858 PM     SNOW             JUNTURA                 43.74N 118.09W
01/06/2004  2.00 INCH        MALHEUR            OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

0855 PM     HEAVY SNOW       20 NW NORTH POWDER      45.03N 117.92W
01/06/2004  0.00 INCH        UNION              OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            EB I-84 CLOSED PER ODOT

0855 PM     HEAVY SNOW       14 NW ONTARIO           44.02N 116.97W
01/06/2004  0.00 INCH        MALHEUR            OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            WB I-84 CLOSED PER ODOT

0855 PM     SNOW             BAKER                   44.77N 117.83W
01/06/2004  1.00 INCH        BAKER              OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            FREEWAY CLOSED THROUGHOUT BAKER COUNTY PER ODOT

&&

VJM

Local storm report, Jan 7, 1:35 AM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
135 AM MST WED JAN 07 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0125 AM     SNOW             BAKER                   44.77N 117.83W
01/07/2004  2.00 INCH        BAKER              OR   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            SNOWFALL WAS AT BAKER CITY COURTHOUSE AT MIDNIGHT MST.
            LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN EXPOSED
            AREAS OF BAKER COUNTY WITH THE FREEWAY CLOSED.

&&

VJM

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Baker

When: January 7, 3:00 AM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where: Baker forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.709, -117.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lower Treasure Valley

When: January 7, 8:00 AM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where: Lower Treasure Valley forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Malheur

When: January 7, 9:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Malheur forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 43.193, -117.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Harney

When: January 7, 9:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Harney forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.064, -118.968 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Oregon in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, January 2004

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: 5382966, 5382967, 5382968, 5382969.