Ice Storm in Washington, December 4 to 5, 2014

Name: Ice Storm in Washington, December 4 to 5, 2014
Start: 2014-12-04T15:00
End: 2014-12-05T07:00
Location: Washington

December 4 to 5, 2014 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Moderate to heavy amounts of precipitation fell across the East Slopes of the Washington Cascades. Most of the precipitation fell as freezing rain with areas reporting up to a half an inch of ice.

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.

Moderate to heavy amounts of precipitation fell across the East Slopes of the Washington Cascades. Most of the precipitation fell as freezing rain with areas reporting up to a half an inch of ice. Reports from Trout Lake of 0.25 of ice and 0.50 near Appleton.

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 4, 2:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 2:30 PM PST, 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
230 PM PST THU DEC 4 2014

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...OLD AIR IS SLOWLY ERODING
ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUES AND NORTH CENTRAL OREGON.
SIGNIFICANT PORTIONS OF THESE AREAS STILL HAVE TEMPERATURES BELOW
FREEZING. WITH LIKELY PRECIPITATION FREEZING RAIN WILL PROBABLY
ACCUMULATE THERE. EXTENDED FREEZING RAIN ADVISORIES UNTIL 10 PM.
TEMPERATURES IN THE COLUMBIA GORGE HAVE INCREASED ABOVE FREEZING SO
CANCELLED THE ICE STORM WARNING FOR THE GORGE. A BAND OF
PRECIPITATION IS MOVING THROUGH THE SIMCOE HIGHLANDS INTO THE YAKIMA
VALLEY AND LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN. TEMPERATURES ARE HOVERING AROUND
FREEZING SO FREEZING RAIN AND RAIN ARE LIKELY IN THESE AREAS.

AS THIS SYSTEM PUSHES NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL
DECREASE IN OREGON LATER TONIGHT AND IN SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON
EARLY FRIDAY. A RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND OREGON
FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH PRECIPITATION CONFINED MAINLY TO THE EAST
SLOPES OF THE CASCADES. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH EASTERN
WASHINGTON AND OREGON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE TEMPERATURES
WILL BE ABOVE FREEZING OVER MOST OF THE AREA SO THE PREDOMINATE
PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL BE RAIN THOUGH A FEW AREAS FROM CENTRAL TO
NORTHEAST OREGON MAY HAVE A RAIN/SNOW MIX BY SATURDAY MORNING. BY
SATURDAY AFTERNOON THE SYSTEM WILL BE MOVING INTO IDAHO THOUGH A FEW
SHOWERS IN THE NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS.  COONFIELD

.LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...MODELS ARE PRETTY
MUCH IN AGREEMENT THAT A SERIES OF WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL BE MOVING
THROUGH THE REGION DURING THE LONG TERM PERIOD. THIS WILL BE BROUGHT
ABOUT BY A DOMINATE WESTERLY FLOW COMING IN OFF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
LOOKS LIKE MUCH OF THE COLD AIR TRAPPED IN THE BASIN WILL BE GONE BY
SUNDAY SO PRECIPITATION TYPE EXPECTED TO BE EITHER RAIN OR SNOW
ASSOCIATED WITH THESE SYSTEMS AS SNOW LEVELS WILL BE IN THE 4000 TO
7000 FOOT RANGE THROUGH. WILL ALSO SEE SOME OCCASIONAL BREEZY
SOUTHERLY WINDS PRECEDING THESE SYSTEMS.

&&

.AVIATION...18Z TAFS...MVFR AND IFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL IN
MIST...RA...FZRA AND LOW CIGS AT KPDT...KALW...KPSC...KYKM AND KDLS.
CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED TO MOSTLY VFR AT KRDM AND KBDN AND ARE
EXPECTED TO REMAIN VFR. MORE PRECIPITATION AND LOW CLOUDS WILL WORK
THEIR WAY THROUGH THE AREA TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT WITH MORE MIXED
PRECIPITATION AND LOWER CIGS. WINDS WILL REMAIN LIGHT THROUGH THE
NEXT 24 HOURS. 91

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  28  37  33  47 /  60  10  50  40
ALW  30  39  34  45 /  60  10  40  50
PSC  30  37  34  44 /  60  20  50  40
YKM  29  38  31  42 /  70  20  50  40
HRI  27  38  33  44 /  60  10  50  30
ELN  28  39  30  42 /  70  40  60  40
RDM  30  48  33  49 /  30  10  60  20
LGD  35  46  37  47 /  50  10  40  50
GCD  34  47  36  49 /  30  10  50  40
DLS  32  42  36  45 /  70  20  60  30

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING ORZ044.

     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING ORZ507.

     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING ORZ510.

     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING ORZ508.

WA...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING WAZ029.

     ICE STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 AM PST FRIDAY WAZ520.

     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM PST FRIDAY WAZ026-027-521.

     FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING WAZ028.

     AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM PST SATURDAY WAZ026-027.

&&

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

76/91/91

Event by event

1 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, East Slopes of the Washington Cascades

When: December 4, 3:00 PM PST to December 5, 7:00 AM PST
Where: East Slopes of the Washington Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

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: 544777.