Heavy Snow in Oregon, November 12 to 14, 2014

Name: Heavy Snow in Oregon, November 12 to 14, 2014
Start: 2014-11-12T22:00
End: 2014-11-14T13:00
Location: Oregon

November 12 to 14, 2014 · NWS PDT · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.

A warm front from the south collided with an arctic air mass from the north and produced significant winter weather across most of central and northeast Oregon. Heavy snow occurred across much of central and northeast Oregon, with the highest accumulations over central Oregon. In addition to the heavy snow, portions of central Oregon reported between 0.50-1.00 of ice from freezing rain. Snowfall amounts in inches are as followed: (21) NE of Sisters, (20) NNW of Redmond, (19) E of Prineville, (13) and 0.50 of ice N of Prineville, (8) ESE of Granite, (7) SE of Cove, (7) E of The Dalles, (6) and 1.00 of ice SE of Bend, (6) in Pilot Rock, (6) W of Lexington, (6) E of Union, (5) in John Day, and (4) in Echo.

What forecasters said that day

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 Nov 12, 9:50 PM PST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 12, 9:50 PM PST, 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
950 PM PST WED NOV 12 2014

UPDATED THE AVIATION DISCUSSION

.UPDATE...THE LATEST IR SATL WAS BEGINNING TO SHOW MID AND HIGH
LEVEL CLOUDS MOVING INTO THE REGION. THE PCPN BAND MAY BE A TAD
SLOWER BUT IS STILL FORECAST TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL OREGON OVERNIGHT
AND SPREAD INTO THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA TOMORROW. THE NEW NAM
MODEL SHOWS PCPN AMOUNTS WERE COMING MORE IN LINE WITH THE GFS
SOLN. FOR EXAMPLE CONSIDERING TEMPERATURES AND FACTORING IN SNOW
RATIOS THE FORECAST QPF IS NEAR .40 FOR PENDLETON SO SNOW TOTALS
COULD CLIMB TOWARD SIX INCHES BY FRIDAY MORNING. NUMEROUS WINTER
WEATHER WARNINGS WERE HOISTED FOR THE ENTIRE AREA TO BEGIN ACROSS
CENTRAL OREGON IN A FEW HOURS AND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION BY
TOMORROW. OTHERWISE THE PRESENT SHORT TERM FORECAST APPEARS ON TRACK
FOR NOW.

.AVIATION...EXPECT LCL MVFR CEILINGS ACROSS CENTRAL OREGON TAF SITES
KRDM AND KBDN AND THIS WILL SPREAD INTO THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA
THURSDAY MORNING AFFECTING TAF SITES KDLS...KPDT...KALW BY 12Z. THE
CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE TO AREAS OF MVFR AND IFR CEILINGS IN
SNOW. VSBY WILL ALSO BE REDUCED TO UNDER ONE MILE IN SNOW FROM
CENTRAL OREGON NORTHWARD THROUGHOUT THURSDAY. MEANWHILE TAF SITES
KYKM AND KPSC WILL EXPERIENCE LCL MVFR CEILINGS BY 15Z AND AFTER 18Z
THESE SITES ARE FORECAST TO EXPERIENCE AREAS OF MVFR CONDITIONS AND
LCL IFR IN SNOW.

&&

.PREV DISC... /ISSUED 326 PM PST WED NOV 12 2014/

SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...WINTER STORM WARNINGS
WILL GO INTO AFFECT TONIGHT AND ON THURSDAY OVER MUCH OF THE AREA.
THESE HIGHLIGHTS ARE DUE TO A PACIFIC SYSTEM THAT WILL MOVE TOWARD
THE OREGON COAST TONIGHT, THEN INLAND THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.
THIS SYSTEM WILL PUSH AN AREA OF SNOW INTO CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL
OREGON LATE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THIS AREA OF SNOW WILL
DEVELOP INTO A BAND OF PRECIP, MAINLY SNOW, THAT WILL AFFECT MOST OF
THE AREA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE REMAINS SOME UNCERTAINTY
AS TO THE EXACT PLACEMENT OF THE CENTER OF THE BAND. AT THIS TIME
THE CENTER OF THE BAND LOOKS TO LAY OVER NORTHEAST OREGON AND
EXTREME SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. PRECIP IN
THIS AREA WILL BE SNOW AT THIS TIME. THE NORTHWARD EXTENT OF THE
BAND'S PRECIP IS ALSO UNCERTAIN WITH SOME DATA INDICATING THAT THE
KITTITAS VALLEY MAY SEE LIMITED TO NO SNOW. WILL ISSUE AN ADVISORY
FOR THIS ZONE FOR NOW. CENTRAL OREGON WILL SEE PLENTY OF SNOW
TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING, BUT SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SHOULD SEE ANY SNOW CHANGE TO RAIN
BELOW 5000-5500 FEET MSL OVER CENTRAL AND EAST-CENTRAL OREGON DURING
THIS TIME. AT THE SAME COLD AIR TRAPPED ROUGHLY BELOW 3300 FEET MSL
WOULD RESULT IN THE RAIN FREEZING. TEMPERATURES FOR MOST AREAS WILL
REMAIN WELL BELOW SEASONAL. 90

LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM
WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT SEVERAL AREAS THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT TO
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. DUE TO THE WIDESPREAD DIFFERENCES IN SNOW
AMOUNTS ACROSS THE CWA...PLEASE REFER TO PRODUCT PDXWSWPDT FOR
FURTHER DETAILS ON SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.

AS MOISTURE EXITS THE AREA FRIDAY EVENING A STRONG SURFACE HIGH FROM
CANADA WILL BRING ANOTHER SHOT OF VERY COLD AND DRY ARCTIC AIR TO
THE INTERIOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST. LOW TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY MORNING WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO MID TEENS FOR THE
VALLEYS WITH THE MOUNTAINS RANGING FROM 0 TO 10 ABOVE. AN UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE OFF THE OREGON WASHINGTON COAST WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY
MOVE INLAND THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK. OVERALL THE AREA WILL REMAIN UNDER
NORTHWEST FLOW...WHICH WILL RESULT IN TRAPPED COLD AIR FROM THE
PREVIOUS ARCTIC BLAST ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. WARM AIR ALOFT
FROM THE APPROACHING HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL ALLOW FOR MOUNTAINS
TO GET INTO THE UPPER 30S TO MID 40S ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. VALLEYS
WILL STILL BE IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S UNDER THE INVERSION. MODELS
HINT AT AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO
WEDNESDAY THAT MAY SWING SOME WARM AIR ADVECTION AND A CHANCE FOR
PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA. FOR NOW HAVE INTRODUCED A SLIGHT CHANCE
OF RAIN AND SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS. WEBER

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  13  25  22  29 /   0  90  90  60
ALW  17  27  23  32 /   0  70  90  60
PSC  13  30  20  31 /   0  70  90  50
YKM  13  29  20  32 /  10  60  90  50
HRI  11  28  22  30 /   0  90  90  60
ELN  11  31  14  32 /   0  40  60  40
RDM  17  31  28  35 /  70  90  90  80
LGD  14  28  24  32 /   0  90  90  80
GCD  14  33  32  35 /  20  90  90  80
DLS  19  27  26  33 /  20  90  90  60

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     ORZ049-050-502.

     WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 PM PST FRIDAY ORZ506-509-511.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     ORZ503-505-508-510.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     ORZ041-044.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     ORZ507.

WA...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     WAZ027>030.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     WAZ024-520-521.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THURSDAY TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY
     WAZ026.

&&

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON

97/97

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Ochoco-John Day Highlands

When: November 12, 10:00 PM PST to November 14, 1:00 PM PST
Where: Ochoco-John Day Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.381, -120.359 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades

When: November 12, 10:00 PM PST to November 14, 1:00 PM PST
Where: East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.568, -121.190 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Central Oregon

When: November 12, 10:00 PM PST to November 14, 1:00 PM PST
Where: Central Oregon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.229, -120.920 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Columbia River Gorge

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Eastern Columbia River Gorge forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.314, -120.689 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lower Columbia Basin

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Lower Columbia Basin forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.506, -119.160 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Blue Mountains

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 9:00 AM PST
Where: Southern Blue Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.153, -119.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, John Day Basin

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 9:00 AM PST
Where: John Day Basin forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.885, -120.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Foothills of the Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 9:00 AM PST
Where: Foothills of the Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.174, -119.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, North Central Oregon

When: November 13, 4:00 AM PST to November 14, 9:00 AM PST
Where: North Central Oregon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.283, -120.928 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grand Ronde Valley

When: November 13, 10:00 AM PST to November 14, 1:00 AM PST
Where: Grand Ronde Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.310, -118.009 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Wallowa County

When: November 13, 10:00 AM PST to November 14, 1:00 AM PST
Where: Wallowa County forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.445, -117.595 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon

When: November 13, 10:00 AM PST to November 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.592, -118.737 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oregon in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, November 2014

Sources

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: 543231, 543232, 543233, 543219, 543220, 543225, 543226, 543227, 543230, 543222, 543223, 543224.