Avalanche in Oregon, January 2, 2010

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
230 PM PST SAT JAN 2 2010

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON...A FLAST MID/UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE WILL CONTINUE OVER THE REGION TONIGHT WITH WESTERLY FLOW
ALOFT ALLOWING MID/UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS TO STREAM ACROSS THE FORECAST
AREA. OTHERWISE...TONIGHT WILL BE DRY EXCEPT FOR SOME SLOP OVER
LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES.
THEN A WARM FRONT WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION INTO THE
FORECAST AREA ON SUNDAY WITH INCREASING CHANCES SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT. POPS WILL BE DECREASING DURING THE DAYTIME ON TUESSDAY
AS THE WARM FRONT EXITS THE REGION.  POLAN

.LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. A DEPARTING LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM FOR TUESDAY NIGHT WILL GIVE WAY TO A RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE THAT SHOULD BRING DRIER CONDITIONS TO THE AREA BY
WEDNESDAY. PATCHY FOG SHOULD REDEVELOP OVER THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN
BY MIDWEEK AS WELL. IN ADDITION A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT SHOULD BRING
COLDER AIR TO THE REGION ON NNE WINDS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST
INTO THURSDAY. THE HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLOWLY DRIFTS EAST WHICH MAY
ALLOW SOME SHOWERS TO CREEP INTO THE WA/OR CASCADES BY THE END OF
THE WEEK WITH MODIFYING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. BY SATURDAY THE
SHOWERS SLIP OVER THE CASCADES AND MAY SPREAD INTO THE REMAINDER OF
THE TWO STATE AREA BY THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEKEND.

&&

.AVIATION...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO TONIGHT. HOWEVER
AREAS OF MVFR AND LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN DUE TO CEILINGS AND VSBY IN FOG UNTIL 15Z.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  27  40  32  37 /  20  20  40  60
ALW  35  41  34  37 /  20  20  50  60
PSC  31  40  33  38 /  10  20  50  60
YKM  25  38  32  36 /  10  30  70  70
HRI  31  40  33  37 /  10  20  50  60
ELN  28  37  26  33 /  20  40  80  70
RDM  27  45  30  44 /  10  20  40  60
LGD  28  39  31  38 /  10  20  30  50
GCD  20  41  29  40 /  10  20  30  60
DLS  32  43  37  39 /  20  40  50  70

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...NONE.
WA...NONE.
&&

THREAT INDEX
SUNDAY : GREEN
MONDAY : GREEN
TUESDAY : 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

99/97/97

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1205 PM PST SAT JAN 2 2010

UPDATED DAY ONE DISCUSSION TO REMOVE DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN THE
KITTITAS AND YAKIMA VALLEYS.

ORZ041>044-049-050-501>506-WAZ024-026>030-501-502-031415-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-
CENTRAL OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-
WALLOWA COUNTY-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
NORTHERN WHEELER AND SOUTHERN GILLIAM COUNTIES-JOHN DAY BASIN-
OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-
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-
EAST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL CASCADES OF WASHINGTON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES OF WASHINGTON-
1205 PM PST SAT JAN 2 2010

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

ANOTHER WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION TONIGHT
BRINGING INCREASING CLOUDS...BUT WITH ONLY LIGHT PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS. THIS WILL BE PRIMARILY A RAIN EVENT IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS
WITH SNOW IN THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS ONLY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE
EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA AMOUNTS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

EVEN THOUGH THE WEATHER WILL REMAIN ACTIVE WITH FREQUENT WEATHER
SYSTEMS...THESE WEATHER SYSTEMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE WEAK WITH ONLY
LIGHT PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS PRODUCED BY EACH ONE. A STRONGER
MID/UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO BUILD OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH DRIER
CONDITIONS...BUT ALSO WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS FORMING
ACROSS THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND ADJACENT VALLEYS...WHICH WILL
TRAP MOISTURE AT LOW LEVELS RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD LOW STRATUS
CLOUDS AND AREAS OF FOG. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO COOL OFF
SLIGHTLY...ESPECIALLY IN AREAS OF FOG OR LOW CLOUDS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

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...EXCEPT THE H IN
CURRENTHAZARDS.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
841 AM PST SAT JAN 02 2010

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

0101 PM     TSTM WND GST     PENDLETON               45.67N 118.82W
01/01/2010  M60.00 MPH       UMATILLA           OR   ASOS

            PENDLETON ASOS RECORDED A 60 MPH WIND GUST ASSOCIATED
            WITH A SQUALL LINE OF SHOWERS. SMALL HAIL THE SIZE OF A
            PEPPERCORN ALSO OCCURRED.

0130 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     WALLA WALLA             46.07N 118.34W
01/01/2010                   WALLA WALLA        WA   NEWSPAPER

            A CALL FROM THE PUBLIC TO KNDU STATED THAT THEY SAW A
            POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD IN WALLA WALLA NEAR SCHOOL AVENUE
            AND RUSSELL CLARK ROAD. HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED WITH THE
            FUNNEL CLOUD.

0130 PM     DOWNBURST        WESTON                  45.82N 118.43W
01/01/2010                   UMATILLA           OR   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            AN EMERGENCY RESPONDER DESCRIBED PHENOMENON SOUNDING LIKE
            A ROLL CLOUD, LOCATED EAST OF WESTON AND ADVANCING TOWARD
            THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

0131 PM     TSTM WND GST     WALLA WALLA             46.07N 118.34W
01/01/2010  M54.00 MPH       WALLA WALLA        WA   ASOS

            WALLA WALLA ASOS MEASURED A 54 MPH WIND GUST PRODUCED BY
            A THUNDERSTORM IN THE VICINITY.

&&

POLAN