Heavy Snow in Oregon, March 22 to 23, 2005

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
830 PM PST MON MAR 21 2005

.DISCUSSION...SIGNIFICANT CHANGES ARE EXPECTED FOR CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST OREGON OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS.  WATER VAPOR SATELLITE LOOP
IS SHOWING AN UPPER LEVEL LOW STRENGTHENING AS IT APPROACHES THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST.  AT THE SURFACE...A DEEPENING LOW IS ALSO
BEING OBSERVED WITH THE CENTRAL PRESSURE DOWN TO AROUND 1000MB.
THIS FEATURE WILL TRACK EAST-NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT...TAKING UP A
POSITION OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST OREGON TUESDAY MORNING.  ABUNDANT
MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH UPSLOPE FLOW ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON TO
BRING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION TO CENTRAL OREGON.  SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ABOVE 4000 FEET IS EXPECTED AND WILL
ISSUE A SNOW ADVISORY FOR LATE IN THE SEASON ACCUMULATIONS.  SOME
SNOW ACCUMULATION IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN THE BEND AND REDMOND
AREAS...BUT SHOULD REMAIN UNDER AN INCH.

THE SURFACE LOW WILL THEN TRACK NORTHEAST TUESDAY NIGHT ACROSS
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON...BRINGING ANOTHER CONCERN.  MODELS
HINT AT LOW LEVEL THICKNESS VALUES BEING COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SNOW
IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS OVERNIGHT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
MORNING.  FOR NOW WILL LET MIDNIGHT SHIFT LOOK AT THIS POTENTIAL
FURTHER...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE RESIDENTS IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS
COULD WAKE UP TO A WHITE GROUND WEDNESDAY MORNING.  FORECAST UPDATE
WILL BE COMING SOON.  WOLF

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  33  56  35  51 /  10  30  20  30
ALW  36  56  36  51 /  10  20  20  30
PSC  32  59  34  53 /  10  10  10  20
YKM  29  58  35  53 /  10  10  10  20
HRI  32  59  32  53 /  10  20  10  30
ELN  27  53  31  52 /  10  10  10  30
RDM  30  49  27  47 /  50  80  50  30
LGD  30  50  33  48 /  10  40  60  40
5J0  32  52  32  50 /  10  60  60  40
DLS  34  57  36  54 /  10  20  10  30

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.OR...SNOW ADVISORY FROM 2 AM TUESDAY UNTIL NOON TUESDAY FOR ORZ043.
.WA...NONE.

&&

TI:YGG
FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON
86/

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
910 PM PST MON MAR 21 2005

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-221300-
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-EAST 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-
910 PM PST MON MAR 21 2005

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

.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT

SNOW
     CENTRAL OREGON

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST
LATE TONIGHT.  SNOW WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON
LATE TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES
OF SNOW EXPECTED ABOVE 4000 FEET.  A SNOW ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED
FOR CENTRAL OREGON.  PLEASE REFER TO PRODUCT PDXWSWPDT FOR THE
LATEST DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SNOW TUESDAY
          CENTRAL OREGON

THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SNOW TO CENTRAL
OREGON TUESDAY MORNING.  A SNOW ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED...PLEASE
REFER TO PRODUCT PDXWSWPDT FOR THE LATEST DETAILS.

ABUNDANT MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY THE
WEEKEND WITH A FETCH OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE STRETCHING BACK TO
HAWAII.  AS SUCH...THERE IS A CHANCE OF A SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION
EVENT OVER THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

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/CURRENTHAZARDS/GRAPHICALHAZARDS.PHP?TAB=1

ALL LETTERS IN THE ABOVE URL ARE LOWER CASE...EXCEPT THE H IN
CURRENTHAZARDS AND GRAPHICALHAZARDS.