Winter Weather in Oregon, March 1, 2012

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
255 PM PST THU MAR 1 2012

UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
THAT BROUGHT SNOW TO MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA FOR
THE LAST 36 HOURS HAS MOVED OFF INTO THE ROCKIES THIS AFTERNOON AND
ONLY A FEW LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS REMAIN OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS.
A RIDGE OUT IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC IS BUILDING OVER THE AREA AND
SHOULD REMAIN THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD. CLOUDS REMAIN OVER THE
EASTERN MOUNTAINS WHILE MUCH OF THE REST OF THE AREA HAS BEEN PARTLY
CLOUDY TODAY. EXPECT THAT CLEARING WILL INCREASE TONIGHT AND THE
CURRENT BREEZY WINDS WILL DIMINISH OVERNIGHT. THIS WILL SET UP GOOD
CONDITIONS FOR RADIATIVE COOLING, ESPECIALLY OVER THE SNOW COVERED
PORTIONS OF CENTRAL OREGON AND THE OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS. THOSE
LOCATIONS WILL DROP TO THE LOWER TEENS TONIGHT WHILE THE REST OF
MOUNTAINS WILL BE IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 20S AND THE THE
COLUMBIA BASIN WILL BE IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. HAVE KEPT SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LESS THAN AN
INCH. TOMORROW WILL SEE A NORTHERLY FLOW OVER THE AREA AND
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL THOUGH A FEW DEGREES WARMER
THAN TODAY. WITH AN UPSLOPE FLOW INTO THE MOUNTAINS HAVE KEPT A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS THERE FRIDAY AND INCREASED IT TO A
CHANCE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY AS THE MOISTURE STREAM LOOKS
STRONGER AND THE MORE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW IS MORE FAVORABLE FOR
SHOWER DEVELOPMENT. THE RIDGE WILL BUILD FURTHER BY SATURDAY AND
TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 50S AND LOWER 60S IN THE
COLUMBIA BASIN WITH MID 40S TO MID 50S ELSEWHERE. BY SATURDAY NIGHT
THE RIDGE WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PUSH MOISTURE TO OUR NORTH AND
END SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. LOW TEMPERATURES WILL REFLECT THE
STRENGTHENING RIDGE SATURDAY NIGHT AND BE IN THE MID 30S TO LOWER
40S WITH MID 20S TO LOWER 30S ELSEWHERE. PERRY

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THE RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE WILL KEEP CONDITIONS WARM AND DRY ON SUNDAY. THIS RIDGE
WILL THEN SHIFT TO THE EAST AS A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE SWINGS
TOWARD THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST AT THE START OF THE NEW WEEK.
MODELS ARE IN MORE OR LESS AGREEMENT WITH MOVING THE FRONT THROUGH
LATE MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...HOWEVER THE NEWEST RUN OF THE
EUROPEAN MODEL IS FASTER THAN THE PREVIOUS RUN AND THE GFS RUNS.
THIS FRONT WILL BRING BREEZY CONDITIONS AND A CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION. SNOW LEVELS WILL START OUT HIGH AND LOWER TO AROUND
2000 FEET BY TUESDAY. THE REGION WILL BE UNDER A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN
INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK WITH SMALLER DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH
THE FLOW AND BRINGING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION EACH DAY. DETAILS
ARE HARD TO PIN DOWN AT THIS TIME AS THE MODELS ARE IN DISAGREEMENT
WITH THE STRENGTH AND TIMING OF THE DEPARTING OF THE TROUGH AS WELL
AS THE OTHER DISTURBANCES. THEREFORE CONFIDENCE IS LOWER AFTER
TUESDAY. DMH

&&

.AVIATION...00Z TAFS...SCATTERED TO BROKEN CLOUDS REMAIN OVER MOST
OF THE REGION WITH UPSLOPE FLOW INTO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS BEHIND THE
DEPARTED WEATHER SYSTEM. WILL SEE SKIES CLEAR BRIEFLY OVERNIGHT
BEFORE MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS INCREASE AGAIN TOMORROW. BREEZY
SURFACE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT. VFR CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. DMH

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  28  47  35  57 /  20  10  20  20
ALW  31  48  38  57 /  20  10  20  20
PSC  30  50  38  60 /  10  10  10  10
YKM  27  45  33  55 /  10  10  10  20
HRI  30  49  37  59 /  10  10  20  10
ELN  27  44  32  53 /  10  10  20  20
RDM  19  44  28  53 /  10  10  10  10
LGD  24  41  31  48 /  30  10  20  20
GCD  22  39  29  50 /  30  10  20  10
DLS  32  47  37  56 /  10  10  10  20

&&

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

THREAT INDEX
FRIDAY : GREEN
SATURDAY : GREEN
SUNDAY : 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

83/84/84

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1137 AM PST THU MAR 1 2012

UPDATED FOR CANCELLATION OF WINTER STORM WARNING FOR EAST SLOPES
OREGON CASCADES

ORZ041-042-044-049-050-502-503-505>509-WAZ024-026>030-520-521-
021330-
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-
1137 AM PST THU MAR 1 2012

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW
     OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS

A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE OREGON CASCADE
EAST SLOPES SINCE THE HEAVY SNOW HAS MOVED EAST. A WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY WILL STAY IN EFFECT FOR THE OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS
THROUGH 7 PM THIS EVENING. A PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE
REGION TODAY BRINGING MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW TO MAINLY SOUTHERN
OREGON. 3 TO 6 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS
MAINLY ABOVE 4500 FEET. PLEASE REFER TO THE NWS HAZARD PRODUCT
PDXWSWPDT FOR MORE DETAILS. ELSEWHERE IN THE FORECAST AREA SCATTERED
LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR TODAY...ESPECIALLY OVER OREGON AND
THESE WILL DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

AN UPPER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE REGION ON FRIDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY WITH A WARMING TREND. HOWEVER...THERE WILL STILL BE A
RISK OF A FEW RAIN OR SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE CASCADES AND NORTHEAST
MOUNTAINS UNTIL SATURDAY. ON MONDAY ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM AND A
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA BRINGING COOLER TEMPERATURES
ALONG WITH SOME RAIN AND HIGHER MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS. IT WILL ALSO
BECOME WINDY ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA.

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

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.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1123 AM PST THU MAR 01 2012

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

0753 AM     HEAVY SNOW       SISTERS                 44.29N 121.55W
03/01/2012  M4.0 INCH        DESCHUTES          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 INCHES IN 10 HOURS

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 NNW LA PINE           43.74N 121.54W
03/01/2012  M4.0 INCH        DESCHUTES          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SNOWING HARD

0945 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 N LA PINE             43.74N 121.52W
03/01/2012  M4.0 INCH        DESCHUTES          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 INCHES OVERNIGHT 11 INCHES TOTAL

0900 AM     HEAVY SNOW       GLENWOOD                46.02N 121.29W
03/01/2012  M5.0 INCH        KLICKITAT          WA   CO-OP OBSERVER

0900 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 NE SISTERS            44.34N 121.49W
03/01/2012  M0.0 INCH        DESCHUTES          OR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            6 INCHES SINCE 4 PM 16 INCHES ON GROUND. SANTIAM SKI AREA
            25-26 INCHES.

0630 AM     HEAVY SNOW       SUNRIVER                43.88N 121.44W
03/01/2012  M13.0 INCH       DESCHUTES          OR   MESONET

&&

DC