Heavy Snow in Washington, January 15, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, January 15, 2005
Start: 2005-01-15T13:50
End: 2005-01-15T22:46
Location: Washington

January 15, 2005 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

8 inches of snow, with four inches falling from 2:00-7:05 PM.

Where it happened

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.

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: 1

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 PDT wrote it up.

Heavy snow fell in the Kittitas Valley, with a weather spotter in Ellensburg measuring 5.8 inches of snow, with four inches falling from 2:00-7:05 PM.

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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 9:30 AM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 15, 9:30 AM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 15, 12:30 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
1230 PM PST SAT JAN 15 2005

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-161300-
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-
1230 PM PST SAT JAN 15 2005

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WINTER MIX
     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, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE (OR), 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

A WARM FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TODAY THROUGH
EARLY SUNDAY...BRINGING A MIXED BAG OF WINTERY PRECIPITATION TO THE
REGION.  NUMEROUS WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT.  PLEASE
SEE PRODUCT PDXWSWPDT WWUS46 KPDT FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

WINTER MIX SUNDAY
          NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, BLUE MOUNTAINS, JOHN DAY BASIN,
          OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA
          COUNTY

FREEZING RAIN TUESDAY
          EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES

WINTERY PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING ACROSS
MUCH OF NORTHEASTERN OREGON. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL
CONTINUE UNTIL NOON SUNDAY. REFER TO PDXWSWPDT WWUS46 KPDT FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD ALONG THE WEST COAST LATE SUNDAY
INTO MONDAY...THEN PERSIST OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH THE
WEEK. THE STORM TRACK WILL SHIFT TO NORTHERN WASHINGTON BY MID
WEEK. A DISTURBANCE COULD BRING A CHANCE OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN TO
THE VALLEYS OF THE SOUTHERN WASHINGTON CASCADE EAST SLOPES MONDAY
NIGHT INTO TUESDAY.

.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/FORECAST/HWOGRAPHICS/HWOGRAPHICS.PHP

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 15, 12:54 PM PST, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1254 PM PST SAT JAN 15 2005

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

1250 PM     ICE STORM        ALFALFA                 44.07N 121.02W
01/15/2005                   DESCHUTES          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            FREEZING RAIN CONTINUES...ONE-QUARTER INCH ICE
            ACCUMULATION

1140 AM     FREEZING RAIN    WARM SPRINGS            44.77N 121.29W
01/15/2005  0.00 INCH        JEFFERSON          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            FREEZING RAIN ENDED AT 10 AM...SLEET BEGAN AT 1130 AM.
            ABOUT ONE-EIGHTH INCH ICE ACCUMULATION.

&&

ZALLEN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, E Kittitas

When: January 15, 1:50 PM PST to 10:46 PM PST
Where: E Kittitas forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.791, -120.709 (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 Washington in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, January 2005

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5434182.