Southerly flow aloft ahead of an eastern Pacific upper level low pressure and a strong surface pressure gradient produced high winds. Peak wind gusts in mph included Hot Lake (61) and 3 miles north of Elgin (58).
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 PDT wrote it up.
Southerly flow aloft ahead of an eastern Pacific upper level low pressure and a strong surface pressure gradient produced high winds. Peak wind gusts in mph included Hot Lake (61) and 3 miles north of Elgin (58).
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 Dec 7, 4:35 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION..UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
435 PM PST TUE DEC 7 2010
UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION
.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
CONTINUES TO SPIN IN THE EAST PACIFIC. A WARM FRONT IS PUSHING OVER
THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON WITH MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION OCCURRING
OVER WESTERN OREGON AND WASHINGTON. SOME PRECIPITATION IS STARTING
TO CROSS OVER THE CASCADES BUT WILL REMAIN LIGHT THE REST OF THIS
AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION INTENSITY WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING AS THE
COLD FRONT PUSHES ON SHORE AND PRECIPITATION DRIFTS FURTHER EAST.
FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES AND NEARBY
VALLEYS...PRECIPITATION WILL START OUT AS SNOW AND SLEET THIS
EVENING. THEN FOR THE YAKIMA VALLEY AND SIMCOE HIGHLANDS...WARMER
AIR WILL OVERRIDE COLDER AIR AT THE SURFACE LEADING TO A MIXTURE OF
SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MIXED
PRECIPITATION WILL RUN THIS EVENING INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE
YAKIMA VALLEY AND THE SIMCOE HIGHLANDS. A SNOW ADVISORY WILL BE IN
EFFECT TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON
CASCADES. FOR THE KITTITAS VALLEY...TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER
ALOFT AND THEREFORE EXPECT ONLY SNOW AND SLEET. AMOUNTS WOULD REMAIN
BELOW ADVISORY LEVEL THEREFORE ONLY HAVE A MENTION IN THE FORECAST.
ELSEWHERE...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF MIXED PRECIPITATION IN THE
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE...COLUMBIA BASIN AND IN PORTIONS OF THE BLUE
MOUNTAINS BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO RAIN WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW
LEVELS WILL RISE TO NEAR 5000 FEET BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. FOR THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS... SOUTHERLY DOWNSLOPING WINDS WILL
KEEP THE TEMPERATURES WARMER...LEADING TO MOSTLY RAIN IN THESE
LOCATIONS. TIGHT SOUTHERLY PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL ALSO LEAD TO
WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL DECREASE
RAPIDLY ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS DUE TO A WESTERLY FLOW. THIS
WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO SEND
DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE REGION FOR A CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN
SNOW THROUGH THURSDAY. DMH
.LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...A MID/UPPER
LEVEL SHORT WAVE REACHES THE CASCADES THURSDAY NIGHT AND SPREAD
LIKELY POPS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WITH SNOW LEVELS AROUND 4000 TO
5000 FEET. THE SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE REGION ON FRIDAY THUS
KEEPING POPS HIGH BUT THE WAVE BRINGS A COLD FRONT WITH IT...WHICH
LOWERS SNOW LEVELS TO AROUND 2500 FEET IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. A WARM
FRONT THEN BEGINS MOVING TOWARD THE COAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND THEN
SWEEPS ACROSS THE INTERIOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND. THE
WARM FRONT TRANSPORTS A WARMER AIR MASS INTO THE FORECAST AREA...
WHICH RAISES SNOW LEVELS OVER THE WEEKEND RESULTING IN SNOW
CHANGING OVER TO RAIN EVEN IN THE MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...THERE IS A
POSSIBILITY THAT A LAYER OF SUBFREEZING AIR WILL BE TRAPPED IN THE
KITTITAS VALLEY BELOW AN INVERSION SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY
MORNING WITH A LAYER OF ABOVE FREEZING AIR ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE
INVERSION...THUS YIELDING A CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN IN ADDITION TO
RAIN SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING IN THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS
VALLEYS. POLAN
SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...SHOWER ACTIVITY LOOKS TO
DECREASE SUNDAY NIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVERHEAD.
HOWEVER...ITS STILL DIFFICULT TO SEE IF WE WILL REMAIN UNDER THE
DIRTY PORTION OF THE RIDGE...WHICH IS THE AREA THAT MOISTURE
OVERRUNS NORTH OF THE HIGH PRESSURE. SO HAVE LOWERED POPS TO CHANCE
ACROSS THE BASIN AND SLIGHT CHANCE ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON AND THE
MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEAST OREGON. BY MONDAY WHATS LEFT OF THE RIDGE
LOOKS TO BREAK DOWN OVER THE AREA AND POPS INCREASE TO NEARLY 80
PERCENT ACROSS THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES...THE LOWER COLUMBIA
BASIN...AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST OREGON WILL REMAIN UNDER CHANCE POPS AS PRECIPITATION MAY
NOT REACH THE AREA UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT. WITH THE WARM AIR IN PLACE
ACROSS THE LOWER AND MID LEVELS MOST PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE IN THE
FORM OF RAIN...AND SNOW LEVELS LOOK TO BE ABOUT 6000-8000FT. NOW AS
ON AND OFF PRECIPITATION CONTINUES WITH THE NEXT APPROACHING
DISTURBANCE TUESDAY...COOLER AIR WILL START TO INVADE AND SNOW
LEVELS SHOULD START TO DECREASE TO ABOUT 4000-6000FT. WEBER
&&
.AVIATION...00Z TAFS...A WARM FRONT WILL SPREAD MOUNTAIN SNOW AND
VALLEY RAIN EAST OF THE CASCADES THIS EVENING. RAIN AND SNOW HAS
ALREADY BEGUN AT KDLS AND PDT RADAR SHOWS PRECIPITATION MOVING OVER
THE SIMCOE HIGHLANDS NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD KYKM. AS SUCH LIGHT RAIN
WILL BEGIN AT KYKM BY AROUND 01Z WITH MVFR CONDITIONS LIKELY THERE.
OVERNIGHT KDLS AND KYKM WILL HAVE INCREASING CHANCES OF RAIN...
FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET...POSSIBLY MIXED WITH SNOW...BETWEEN 08/09Z
AND 08/15Z. VLIFR WILL OCCUR AT KRDM UNTIL 08/04Z FOLLOWED VFR...OR
POSSIBLY MVFR...UNTIL 08/12Z WHEN SNOW FOR A PERIOD OF 4 HOURS
PRODUCES VLIFR CONDITIONS FROM AROUND 08/12Z TO 08/16Z. MVFR CIGS
WILL BEGIN AT KPSC BY 08/02Z THIS EVENING AS VSBY AND CEILINGS
DECREASE WITH THE ONSET OF RAIN. IFR CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR AT KPDT
AND KALW THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO FOG REDUCING VSBY AND WITH CEILINGS
HOVERING JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE. WINDS WILL BE LESS THAN 10 KTS FOR
THE NEXT 24 HOURS. POLAN
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT 31 41 35 44 / 40 80 40 50
ALW 32 40 37 43 / 40 80 40 50
PSC 31 36 34 43 / 50 70 30 30
YKM 30 34 29 41 / 80 60 40 40
HRI 31 38 35 42 / 50 70 30 40
ELN 30 34 31 38 / 80 60 50 60
RDM 34 46 33 46 / 60 60 40 30
LGD 34 41 34 43 / 30 80 50 50
GCD 34 43 34 42 / 30 80 50 50
DLS 34 40 36 43 / 80 70 50 50
&&
.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...NONE.
WA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM PST
WEDNESDAY WAZ027-521.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM PST
WEDNESDAY WAZ520.
&&
THREAT INDEX
WEDNESDAY : YELLOW
THURSDAY : GREEN
FRIDAY : GREEN
GREEN: NONE OR LIMITED NEED FOR WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES.
YELLOW: A FEW WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT.
RED: NUMEROUS WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT.
FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON
84/99/99HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1207 PM PST TUE DEC 7 2010
UPDATED TO ADD HIGHLIGHTS
ORZ041-042-044-049-050-502-503-505>509-WAZ024-026>030-520-521-
081400-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-
LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-WALLOWA COUNTY-
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-JOHN DAY BASIN-OCHOCO-
JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-
FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON-KITTITAS VALLEY-
YAKIMA VALLEY-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON-
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES-SIMCOE HIGHLANDS-
1207 PM PST TUE DEC 7 2010
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.
.DAY ONE...TONIGHT
WINTER MIX
SIMCOE HIGHLANDS, YAKIMA VALLEY
SNOW
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES
THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM TO BRING WINTER WEATHER EAST OF THE CASCADES
TO THE YAKIMA AND KITTITAS VALLEY BY THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION
WILL SPREAD OVER THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN WASHINGTON AND EASTERN
OREGON TONIGHT. THERE IS COLD AIR TRAPPED IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY AND
LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIMCOE HIGHLANDS...AND WITH WARM MOIST AIR
OVERRIDING THE COLDER AIR AT THE SURFACE WILL RESULT IN THE AREAS OF
SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION WILL FALL ALONG
THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES...THE SIMCOE
HIGHLANDS...AND THE YAKIMA VALLEY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE
BEEN ISSUED FOR TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. DETAILS CAN BE
FOUND IN THE NWS PRODUCT...PDXWSWPDT.
ELSEWHERE...CONDITIONS WILL BE MAINLY RAIN WITH LOCAL CHANCES OF
FREEZING RAIN ACROSS THE COLUMBIA BASIN AND MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEAST
OREGON TONIGHT.
ANOTHER WEATHER CONCERN WILL BE WINDS IN THE GRANDE RONDE VALLEY
WHICH WILL BECOME WINDY LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
IT WILL ALSO BE VERY WINDY IN A FEW LOCATIONS ALONG THE BASE OF THE
BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY
WINTER MIX WEDNESDAY
SIMCOE HIGHLANDS, YAKIMA VALLEY
SNOW WEDNESDAY
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES
WINTER MIX THURSDAY
YAKIMA VALLEY
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR
THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES...SIMCOE HIGHLANDS AND
THE YAKIMA VALLEY. PLEASE REFER TO PRODUCT ID PDXWSWPDT FOR MORE
DETAILS.
PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF TO SHOWERS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. A MOIST WESTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
MOUNTAIN SNOW AND LOW ELEVATION RAIN/SNOW MIX THURSDAY. THERE IS A
POSSIBILITY OF FREEZING RAIN IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY THURSDAY MORNING.
IT WILL BE UNSETTLED AND WINDY THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY WITH LOW
SNOW LEVELS. A WARM FRONT WILL BRING WARMER AIR INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THE FRONT WILL ALSO BRING
PRECIPITATION OVER THE WEEKEND.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
GRAPHICAL FORECASTS OF WEATHER HAZARDS OUT TO SEVEN DAYS
ARE DISPLAYED ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:
WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PDT/CURRENTHAZARDS/HWO.HTML
ALL LETTERS IN THE ABOVE URL ARE LOWER CASE.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, December 2010
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: 263979.