An extended period of snow melt, combined with a period of heavy rain, caused an extended period of flooding along portions of the Grande Ronde River.
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The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.
An extended period of snow melt, combined with a period of heavy rain, caused an extended period of flooding along portions of the Grande Ronde River.
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 Mar 15, 12:43 PM PST, 8 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 143 PM PDT Wed Mar 15 2017 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Saturday...The moist southwest flow will give way to a westerly flow overnight as a result of a cold frontal passage. The front will bring precipitation to the forecast area as it transitions the area overnight with drying and cooler conditions behind it for Thursday. Snow levels will lower overnight but as the precipitation is decreasing so no significant accumulations expected. However, the lowering freezing level will help to reduce snowmelt occurring in the mountains. The next weather system will arrive Friday afternoon and evening as a warm front followed by another cold front late Saturday. The warm front will mainly impact the north and northwest portion of the forecast area with rain. However, initial snow levels will be around 2500-3000 feet late Friday along the east slopes of the Washington Cascades so some snow accumulations will be possible before snow levels rise. The cold front will bring a better chance of precipitation to the entire forecast area on Saturday with snow levels 5000-7000 feet. The cold front will also produce some windy conditions with south winds becoming westerly in the afternoon. . .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL KEEP RAIN AND HIGHER MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST SATURDAY NIGHT, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES AND EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA. WESTERLY WINDS COULD BE QUITE GUSTY FOR A TIME SATURDAY EVENING IN PARTS OF THE AREA. ON SUNDAY THE AREA WILL BE UNDER A FAIRLY STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION PATTERN, WITH DRY MID AND LOW LEVEL AIR IN PLACE BEHIND THE DEPARTING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. SKIES WILL BE PARTLY CLOUDY, WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVELS DROP TO BETWEEN 1500-3500 FEET OVER THE FORECAST AREA. EVEN WITH THE COLDER AIR ALOFT IN PLACE, HIGH TEMEPRATURES ARE STILL EXPECTED TO REACH THE LOWER TO MID 50S IN THE VALLEYS/BASINS SUNDAY AFTERNOON, WHICH IS ONLY A FEW DEGREES SHY OF THE SEASONAL AVERAGE. ON MONDAY ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL BEGIN TO DEEPEN OFF THE WEST COAST. THIS TURNS THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL FLOW MORE SOUTHERLY OVER THE CWA. THIS WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE TO LOW END CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS TO THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF THE FORECAST AREA, MAINLY LATER IN THE DAY. FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY THE LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN FAIRLY GOOD OVERALL AGREEMENT THAT THE OFFSHORE TROUGH WILL BEGIN TO APPROACH THE INLAND PACIFIC NW. THEREFORE THE OFFICIAL FORECAST NOW HAS CHANCE POPS FOR LOWER ELEVATION RAIN, AND HIGH CHANCE TO LOW END LIKELY POPS FOR RAIN AND HIGH MOUNTAIN SNOW. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE MAINLY BETWEEN 4000 TO 6000 FEET, EXCEPT PERHAPS SLIGHTLY LOWER(2000-3000 FEET)TUESDAY MORNING ESPECIALLY IN WASHINGTON. TEMPERATURES WILL HOLD NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE FOR MOST OF THE AREA FOR EARLY AND MID-WEEK. 77 && .AVIATION...00Z TAFS...VFR TO MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE TO VFR FOR MOST TERMINALS LATE TONIGHT AND ESPECIALLY ON THURSDAY. THE NEXT WAVE OF MOISTURE IS MOVING INTO THE AREA NOW. THIS WILL BRING A PERIOD OF STEADY LIGHT, TO PERHAPS OCCASIONALLY MODERATE RAIN TO MUCH OF THE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. EXPECT LOWER END VFR OR TEMPO MVFR CONDITIONS DURING THIS TIME (15/22Z - 16/03Z). CIGS MOSTLY BETWEEN 3K TO 6K FT AGL. KYKM WILL LIKELY ONLY SEE VERY LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS OR VCSH DURING THIS TIME DUE TO SHADOWING. ANY RAIN SHOWERS SHOULD EXIT THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST AFTER 16/06-09Z. EXPECT ONLY A FEW TO SCT MID-LEVEL CLOUDS BY THURSDAY MORNING OVER THE AREA. HOWEVER, SOME BKN LOWER LEVEL CLOUDS COULD REMAIN TRAPPED IN THE EASTERN COLUMBIA GORGE THROUGH DAYBREAK. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BE BREEZY AND SOMEWHAT GUSTY TODAY, AND COULD LINGER INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. MOST LOCATIONS WILL SEE WINDS BETWEEN 10-15 KTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 20-25 KTS AT TIMES. WINDS ARE FORECAST TO DIMINISH ON THURSDAY, MAINLY AOB 15 KTS. 77 && .HYDROLOGY...MILD TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO CAUSE RAPID SNOWMELT ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION AND WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TONIGHT, THE CURRENT FLOODING IN YAKIMA AND KITTITAS COUNTIES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY. A FLOOD WATCH WILL CONTINUE FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES AND FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE PORTIONS OF THE KLICKITAT, GRANDE RONDE AND UMATILLA RIVERS AS THE RUNOFF MAKES IT'S WAY INTO THE LARGER RIVERS. 93 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 41 53 34 57 / 80 10 0 20 ALW 44 55 38 59 / 80 10 0 20 PSC 42 58 35 55 / 60 10 0 20 YKM 36 58 31 54 / 40 10 0 30 HRI 41 56 33 54 / 70 10 0 20 ELN 32 51 30 48 / 40 10 0 30 RDM 36 55 29 61 / 60 10 0 20 LGD 40 56 33 61 / 90 20 0 10 GCD 41 57 33 63 / 80 10 0 10 DLS 41 57 35 52 / 50 10 0 40 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...Flood Watch through late tonight for WAZ520. && 91/77/77/93
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Grande Ronde river at Troy (flood stage 10.0 feet) crested at 11.5 feet at 1000 on March 16, fell below flood stage and then rose again to 11.7 feet at 0100 on March 19th. River went below flood stage around 1400 on March 20th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, March 2017
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: 683634.