Heavy Snow in Washington, January 4 to 5, 2015

Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, January 4 to 5, 2015
Start: 2015-01-04T01:00
End: 2015-01-05T03:00
Location: Washington

January 4 to 5, 2015 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Another surge of moisture allowed for heavy snowfall and some freezing precipitation to fall along the east slopes of the Cascades. 6 inches of new snow in 12 hours was reported at Easton.

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.

Another surge of moisture allowed for heavy snowfall and some freezing precipitation to fall along the east slopes of the Cascades. 6 inches of new snow in 12 hours was reported at Easton. The precipitation would change over to rain later that evening, but further down in elevation a mix of snow and freezing rain of up to a quarter of an inch fell southeast of Cle Elum.

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 Jan 3, 9:17 PM PST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 9:17 PM PST, 3 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
917 PM PST SAT JAN 3 2015

UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION

.UPDATE...RADAR IS SHOWING PRECIPITATION MOVING INTO EASTERN
WASHINGTON THOUGH NO GROUND STATIONS HAVE REPORTED ANY REACHING
THE GROUND YET. EXPECT ACCUMULATING PRECIPITATION AFTER MIDNIGHT.
MOST OBSERVATIONS ARE BELOW FREEZING AND EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO
BEGIN AS SNOW OR SLEET THOUGH FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE. CURRENT
FORECAST ON TRACK. DO NOT SEE ANY SIGNIFICANT MODEL CHANGES
TONIGHT/EARLY SUNDAY. COONFIELD

&&

.AVIATION...06Z TAFS...IFR/MVFR CONDITIONS AT KPDT AND KALW DUE TO
CIGS/VSBY. CIGS AND VSBYS TO LOWER TO MVFR/IFR AT ALL SITES AFTER
10-12Z WITH MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION BEGINNING AFT 10Z.  79

&&

.PREV DISC... /ISSUED 345 PM PST SAT JAN 3 2015/

SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE THAT
PROVIDED THE DRY CONDITIONS WILL GIVE WAY TO A STORM SYSTEM THAT
WILL EFFECT THE TWO STATE AREA LATER TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. CLOUDS WILL
BE ON THE INCREASE AND PCPN WILL DEVELOP AT FIRST OVER OUR NORTHERN
SECTIONS THAT INCLUDE SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON WITH FROZEN PCPN. AS
COLD AIR REMAINS ENTRENCHED IN THE LOWER LEVELS -SN AND FZRA ARE
EXPECTED MOSTLY NORTH OF THE STATE LINE BEFORE THIS AREA SLOWLY SAGS
INTO NORTH CENTRAL OREGON SUNDAY. THE MODELS DIFFER WITH THE AMOUNT
OF QPF ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA AND THE GFS IS MORE CONSERVATIVE WITH
AMOUNTS. HOWEVER A MIX OF -SN AND FZRA IS EXPECTED AND MULTIPLE
WEATHER WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN PLACE. WARM AIR IS EXPECTED
TO ADVECT INTO THE REGION LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT
RAISING SNOW LEVELS BUT THE COOLER AIR SHOULD LINGER OVER THE
WALLOWA AREA INTO MONDAY. IN ADDITION PRESSURE GRADIENTS TIGHTEN AND
BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE ON MONDAY.

LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...GFS/EC MODELS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH RIDGE OVER THE AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY PRODUCING
DRY CONDITIONS.  HAVE LEFT PATCHY FOG IN THE COLUMBIA BASIN DUE TO
OVERNIGHT INVERSIONS.  GFS A LITTLE FASTER THAN OTHER MODELS WITH
NEXT UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TO ENTER THE REGION LATE THURSDAY.  THIS
WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW INTO SATURDAY NIGHT.
SNOW LEVELS 3500-4500 WASHINGTON AND 4500-5500 OREGON.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT  28  36  36  48 /  50  80  80  60
ALW  32  38  38  50 /  50  80  90  60
PSC  28  37  34  50 /  40  80  70  50
YKM  25  33  31  46 /  50  80  70  50
HRI  29  37  36  51 /  50  80  70  50
ELN  27  32  30  45 /  50  80  70  50
RDM  25  41  34  49 /  10  30  40  20
LGD  27  36  35  44 /  50  80  80  70
GCD  28  42  36  46 /  20  50  70  50
DLS  33  41  37  48 /  30  60  70  50

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 7 PM PST SUNDAY ORZ044-507.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY ORZ502.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY ORZ049.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM SUNDAY TO 4 AM PST MONDAY ORZ050.

WA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 7 PM PST SUNDAY WAZ029.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 PM PST
     SUNDAY WAZ520.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 PM PST
     SUNDAY WAZ521.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY WAZ028.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY WAZ030.

     WINTER STORM WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 PM PST SUNDAY
     WAZ026.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 PM PST
     SUNDAY WAZ027.

&&

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

76/76/76

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, East Slopes of the Washington Cascades

When: January 4, 1:00 AM PST to January 5, 3:00 AM PST
Where: East Slopes of the Washington Cascades forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

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 Washington in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, January 2015

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: 547135.