The first major winter storm of the year moved into Southern Oregon and Northern California at this time. but heavy snow was reported in the mountains as well.
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 episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
The first major winter storm of the year moved into Southern Oregon and Northern California at this time. The main impact of the storm was the low snow levels which created widespread travel difficulties...but heavy snow was reported in the mountains as well.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 12, 2:50 PM PST, 10 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 ORZ023-024-130100- CENTRAL DOUGLAS COUNTY-EASTERN CURRY COUNTY AND JOSEPHINE COUNTY- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 7 PM PST TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 10 PM PST TONIGHT. SEE WEATHER MESSAGES FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL ALSO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. CAZ080-130100- WESTERN SISKIYOU COUNTY- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 7 PM PST TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 10 PM PST TONIGHT. SEE WEATHER MESSAGES FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL ALSO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ORZ025-026-130100- EASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY FOOTHILLS-JACKSON COUNTY- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 7 PM PST TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 10 PM PST TONIGHT. SEE WEATHER MESSAGES FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW ABOVE 2000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FROM 1000 TO 2000 FEET WILL ALSO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ORZ027-028-130100- SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON CASCADES- SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN OREGON CASCADES- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 4 PM PST TODAY FOR HEAVY SNOW AND WIND. SEE WEATHER MESSAGE FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND WIND WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. CAZ081>085-ORZ029>031-130100- CENTRAL SISKIYOU COUNTY-SOUTH CENTRAL SISKIYOU COUNTY- NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST SISKIYOU COUNTY- NORTHEAST SISKIYOU AND NORTHWEST MODOC COUNTIES-MODOC COUNTY- KLAMATH BASIN- NORTHERN AND EASTERN KLAMATH COUNTY AND WESTERN LAKE COUNTY- CENTRAL AND EASTERN LAKE COUNTY- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM PST TODAY UNTIL 10 PM PST TONIGHT FOR SNOW AND WIND. SEE WEATHER MESSAGE FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR OVER THE AREA SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...LEAVING A FEW INCHES OF ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ORZ021-022-130100- SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON COAST-CURRY COUNTY COAST- 555 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW ABOVE 1000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 10 PM PST TONIGHT. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY WILL ALSO BE IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 2 AM PST TONIGHT. SEE WEATHER MESSAGES FOR MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW ABOVE 1000 FEET WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PST SATURDAY. THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
251 PM PST FRI DEC 12 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0246 PM HEAVY SNOW DIAMOND LAKE 43.18N 122.14W
12/12/2008 M2.0 INCH DOUGLAS OR DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
SNOWING HARD ON ROUTE 138 WITH PACKED SNOW ON THE ROADS.
2.0 INCHES NEW SNOW WITH 5.0 INCHES AT ROADSIDE. WINDS
ESTIMATED TO BE 25-30 MPH.
&&
SPILDEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Based on temperature and rainfall reports from low level stations in CAZ080, it is assumed that Heavy Snow Warning criteria were met for this storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2008
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: 156786.