Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, December 24, 2014
Start: 2014-12-24T04:00
End: 2014-12-24T21:00
Location: Washington

Where it happened

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.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 storm system moved into the interior pacific northwest Christmas Eve providing significant snow accumulations to the Washington Blue Mountains. Snow amounts recorded at Ski Bluewood was 8 inches in 12 hours.

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 Dec 24, 3:53 AM PST, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 3:53 AM PST, 7 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
353 AM PST WED DEC 24 2014

UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY...THE NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM
CONTINUES TO MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY THIS MORNING. THE
SYSTEM'S COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING AND
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON BRINGING STEADY PRECIP. PRECIP AMOUNTS IN THE
BLUE MOUNTAINS AND THE ADJACENT FOOTHILLS WILL BE DECENT. SNOW
LEVELS WILL FALL BEHIND THE FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION.
SNOW FALL AMOUNTS WILL BE HIGHEST OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND THE
OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS. AREAS IN CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
BETWEEN 1500 FEET AND 3500 FEET WILL SEE LIGHTER ACCUMULATIONS FROM
MID AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME OF THESE LOCATIONS MAY NOT SEE A
LOT OF SNOW, BUT WITH THIS BEING A BIG TRAVEL DAY ANY SNOW COULD BE
A PROBLEM. THUS WILL CONTINUE ALL CURRENT WINTER WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES. WINDS WILL BE LOCALLY BREEZY AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE
FRONT TODAY AND THIS EVENING. WINDS IN THE SOUTHERN GRANDE RONDE
VALLEY MAY LOCALLY BUMP TO NEAR 30 MPH SUSTAINED THIS MORNING.
PRECIP WILL WIND DOWN OVERNIGHT TONIGHT WITH ONLY UPSLOPE FAVORED
AREAS SEEING CONTINUED LIGHT SNOW INTO CHRISTMAS DAY. 90

.LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THURSDAY NIGHT A
TROUGH THAT HAD BEEN OVER THE AREA WILL HAVE MOVED TO THE ROCKIES
WHILE A RIDGE WILL BE LOCATED OFFSHORE. THIS WILL PLACE OUR AREA IN
A DRIER NORTHERLY FLOW BETWEEN THE TWO. THIS WILL KEEP THE AREA
MAINLY DRY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT ASIDE FROM A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT
UPSLOPE SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS. FRIDAY NIGHT A SYSTEM WILL BEGIN
TO MOVE TOWARDS THE WASHINGTON/BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST. THIS SYSTEM
WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA SATURDAY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN
SNOW FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS LOOK
SUBSTANTIAL SO ANTICIPATE SOME WINTER HIGHLIGHTS MAY EVENTUALLY
PROVE NECESSARY FOR THE MOUNTAINS. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE OFF TO THE
SOUTHEAST SUNDAY AND THE RAIN AND SNOW WILL TAPER OFF. ANOTHER
NORTHERLY FLOW WILL SET UP OVER THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES
WILL COOL A FEW DEGREES BUT NOT TO THE EXTANT THAT YESTERDAYS MODEL
RUNS WERE SUGGESTING. MODELS SUGGEST THAT THE NORTHERLY FLOW WILL
REMAIN MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ASIDE FROM A FEW UPSLOPE SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS IT LOOKS LIKE FAIR WEATHER WILL BE OVER THE
AREA. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE LONG TERM PERIOD WILL BE IN THE 30S
AND LOWER 40S WITH UPPER 20S TO MID 30S IN THE MOUNTAINS. PERRY

&&

.AVIATION...12Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL LOWER TO A VFR/MVFR MIX
IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA. RAIN WILL
BE HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH 18Z AT KDLS AND KYKM AND THROUGH 20-22Z AT
OTHER TAF SITES. THE RAIN WILL TAPER OFF TO SHOWERS AFTER THAT WITH
MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS. HOWEVER LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE
AT KRDM AND KBDN FROM 20Z TO 02Z AND AT KALW AND KPDT AFTER 02Z.
THIS MAY LEAD TO MVFR CONDITIONS AT THOSE TAF SITES. WINDS ARE
INCREASING AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA AND WEST WINDS OF 15 TO
25 KTS ARE EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT TODAY AND WILL SLOWLY DECREASE
THIS EVENING. PERRY

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  44  30  39  27 / 100  70  10  10
ALW  46  32  39  29 / 100  70  10  10
PSC  46  30  40  28 / 100  10  10  10
YKM  42  27  36  27 /  60  10  10  10
HRI  45  30  41  27 / 100  20  10  10
ELN  39  27  37  25 /  60  10  10  10
RDM  41  26  39  22 / 100  50  20  10
LGD  40  28  35  23 / 100  80  30  20
GCD  41  29  37  24 / 100  80  30  20
DLS  44  34  44  31 /  90  20  10  20

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ509.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ050.

     WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY ORZ502.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ511.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ508.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ506.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ABOVE 1500 FEET FOR THE ORZ507.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ505.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ503.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ORZ049.

WA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY WAZ030.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM PST
     THURSDAY ABOVE 1500 FEET FOR THE WAZ029.

&&

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

90/83/83

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northwest Blue Mountains

When: December 24, 4:00 AM PST to 9:00 PM PST
Where: Northwest Blue Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.264, -118.193 (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

More

Every storm in Washington in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, December 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: 547105.