A small, quick moving shortwave and associated frontal system brought strong winds to the coast of northwest Oregon and a quick dose of heavy snow to the north Oregon Cascades.
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 PQR wrote it up.
A small, quick moving shortwave and associated frontal system brought strong winds to the coast of northwest Oregon and a quick dose of heavy snow to the north Oregon Cascades.
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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 28, 2:00 AM PST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
300 AM PDT SAT MAR 28 2009
.SYNOPSIS...AN ACTIVE PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND TO
SPREAD INCREASING PRECIPITATION INTO THE REGION TODAY...WITH A STRONG
COLD FRONT BARRELING THROUGH THE AREA LATE TODAY FOR HEAVY SNOW IN
THE CASCADES. OCCASIONAL PACIFIC SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD RAIN
INTO THE AREA AT TIMES NEXT WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...POLAR ORBITER TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER IMAGERY SHOWS A
MOIST PLUME WITH OVER AN INCH PRECIPITABLE WATER FEEDING INTO THE
OFFSHORE APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM. THE SURFACE LOW FROM THIS
APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BE OFF THE NORTH OREGON COAST AT 18Z
WITH WARM FRONT PART RAISING THE SNOW LEVEL AT FIRST AS PRECIPITATION
SPREADS INLAND THEN THE COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP INLAND LATER IN THE
AFTERNOON WITH SNOW LEVELS PLUMMETING BEHIND IT LATE IN THE DAY AND
EVENING WITH SNOW LEVELS FALLING WELL BELOW CASCADE PASSES THIS
EVENING. MODELS SHOW VERY STRONG ONSHORE FLOW WITH THIS SYSTEM FOR
STRONG OROGRAPHIC FLOW INTO THE CASCADES...THE GFS MODEL SHOWS 50 KTS
SOUTHWEST FLOW INTO THE NORTH CASCADES AT 850 MILLIBARS LATE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND THE PREVIOUS SHIFT ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOWING THE S WA/N OREGON CASCADES. WILL
AT A SNOW ADVISORY AMOUNTS FOR THE CENTRAL CASCADES FOR THIS EVENING
AND TONIGHT. OROGRAPHIC SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT TO BRING
ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT SNOW TO THE CASCADES...WITH SOME ACCUMULATIONS
ALSO POSSIBLE IN THE COAST RANGE AND FOOTHILLS AS FREEZING LEVELS
DROP BUT PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS SHOULD DECREASE THERE AS SNOW LEVELS
FALL. ONSHORE FLOW WEAKENS SUNDAY AS A SHORT WAVE RIDGE MOVES ONTO
THE COAST...FOR DECREASING SHOWERS. THE THREAT OF RAIN LOOKS LOW ON
MON AS VERY WEAK RIDGING MOVES THROUGH...BUT THE PATTERN REMAINS
PROGRESSIVE. WILLSON
.LONG TERM...NO CHANGES. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS...
THE EXTENDED WEATHER PATTERN REMAINS VERY ACTIVE. A
LONGWAVE RIDGE TRIES TO ASSERT ITSELF OVER THE PACIFIC KEEPING WEAK
SHORTWAVE SYSTEMS MAINLY TO THE NORTH AND CROSSING THE FORECAST AREA
FROM THE NORTHWEST. THIS PATTERN KEEPS A MENTION OF PRECIPITATION IN
THE FORECAST THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. BROWN
&&
.AVIATION...MIX OF MVFR/VFR CIGS ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING.
CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE SAT MORNING AS A STRONG FRONT MOVES IN
WITH WIDESPREAD MVFR CONDITIONS INLAND AND IFR ON THE COAST.
CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO VFR AFTER 00Z SUN AS UNSTABLE AIR POURS IN
OFF THE PACIFIC.
KPDX AND APPROACHES...MIX OF VFR/MVFR THIS MORNING. MVFR CIGS SHOULD
DOMINATE BY 12Z AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY AS THE NEXT STRONG
FRONT MOVES ACROSS KPDX. VFR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO KPDX BETWEEN
00Z
AND 02Z.
&&
.MARINE...WINDS REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT CRITERIA UNTIL MIDDAY TODAY
BUT WILL INCREASE QUICKLY TO GALES IN THE NORTHERN WATERS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON IF THE LOW PRESSURE TAKES A PATH INTO WASHINGTON AS MODELS
INDICATE. WINDS WILL DECREASE BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS SUN
EVENING. SEAS TO REMAIN ABOVE 10 FEET THROUGH THE WEEKEND. &&
.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR/WA...
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTH WASHINGTON AND NORTH
OREGON CASCADES SAT AND SAT NIGHT.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 PM TODAY UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY FOR
THE LANE COUNTY CASCADES
GALE WARNING CAPE SHOALWATER TO CASCADE HEAD THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH SUN MORNING.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH COLUMBIA BAR THROUGH SUNDAY.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS CAPE SHOALWATER
TO FLORENCE THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS CAPE SHOALWATER TO FLORENCE
THIS MORNING THROUGH SUN MORNING.
&&
MORE WEATHER INFORMATION ONLINE AT...
Http://weather.gov/portland
THIS DISCUSSION IS FOR NORTHWEST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON FROM
THE CASCADE CREST TO 60 NAUTICAL MILES OFFSHORE. THE AREA IS COMMONLY
REFERRED TO AS THE FORECAST AREA.2 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Between 18 and 25 inches total snowfall was accumulated at stations such as Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort, Timberline ski resort, and in Government Camp along Hwy. 26.
Cape Fowlweather reported winds gusting to 73 kt, and a spotter in Waldport reported gusts to 64 kt.
Multiple stations at Garibaldi reported sustained winds of 35 to 37 kt.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, March 2009
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: 160979, 160896, 160894.