A major winter storm brought significant snow and ice to the region.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.
A major winter storm brought significant snow and ice to the region.
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 17, 1:39 PM PST, 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
139 PM PST Tue Jan 17 2017
.SHORT TERM...Tonight through Wednesday Night...One weak wave ahead
of a significant Pacific system crossed the Yakima Valley/WA Basin
this morning producing pockets of freezing rain. More organized
precip is now beginning to cross the Cascade crest with a few
pockets of freezing rain entering the eastern Gorge and the east
slopes of the WA Cascades. Milder air is beginning to make it down
to the surface across Central OR...with RDM/BDM/Sunriver near 40
degrees early this aftn. Further north...temperatures are struggling
to warm...with most locations in the teens/20s.
A very tricky forecast through midweek...as colder air will be slow
to scour over several locations...especially the eastern Gorge...the
Yakima/Kittitas valleys...and the east slopes of the Cascades. Have
slowed the progression of the colder air scour out...with a slower
trend than most if not all of the model guidance. As the stronger
trough moves into the region...expect rainfall totals in the 0.5 to
1.5 inch range...with much of the precip falling while the
temperature is sub-freezing. With the warmer air aloft...this will
result in significant icing for the aforementioned areas....where an
ice storm warning has been issued. Further east across the Basin and
foothills...winds will turn to the S/SE allowing for downslope and
subsequent warming...with temperatures rising above freezing by mid
to late morning Wednesday. With the greatest precip not entering
these areas until later tonight...this will limit ice accumulations
thus a winter weather advisory is in effect. For the Grande Ronde
Valley...very tight southerly pressure gradients will result in
strong winds...with a high wind warning in effect into midweek.
With the existing snow...and potential for additional snow...expect
visibilities to become highly reduced at times...with a Blizzard
Warning in effect. For the remainder of the eastern mountains and
Wallowa County...several inches of snow in addition to freezing rain
has resulted in a winter storm warning into Thursday. All the above
concerns are subject to significant change if the coldest air gets
scoured out more quickly.
Thursday through Friday...A trough near the coast Thursday morning
will move east across WA and OR Thursday. With the westerly
developing over the area precipitation will be ending in the Yakima
and Kittitas Valleys, Lower Columbia Basin, and decreasing
significantly in North Central and Central Oregon. Upslope flow
orographic effects will keep chance/likely rain and snow in the
Foothills of the Blues and northeast OR mountains Thursday.
Precipitation will decrease across the foothills and northeast
mountains Thursday night. Another system will move into Central
Oregon Friday morning and spread across the rest of the CWA by the
afternoon. A slow cooling trend will begin Thursday evening. Snow
levels will be 3000-4000 feet Thursday...then lower to 2000-3000
feet Friday morning.
.LONG TERM...Friday night through Tuesday. An upper low offshore
will push several short waves and fronts across the region through
Tuesday. This will keep skies mostly cloudy with periods of snow
and lower elevation rain. Temperatures will be closer to normal
levels with highs in the 30s to mid 40s. Lows in the 20s to lower
30s. Could have locally breezy south winds Sun and Mon.
&&
.AVIATION...00z tafs. Steady mixed precipitation will overspread
the region late afternoon into the evening. This will be a mix of
snow, sleet and freezing rain for ykm psc dls pdt alw. Precipitation
will continue overnight into Wednesday. Gradual warming with
increasing south winds at pdt alw will change the precip over to
rain by morning. A slower warming expected at psc dls ykm with a
changeover to rain later in the morning. Rdm bdn already above
freezing with south winds and will likely stay rain throughout
the period.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT 27 41 37 44 / 90 100 90 30
ALW 28 43 39 45 / 90 100 100 40
PSC 25 40 36 42 / 90 80 70 10
YKM 25 38 31 41 / 90 80 60 10
HRI 24 39 36 42 / 90 90 70 10
ELN 24 35 30 38 / 90 80 60 10
RDM 34 41 30 40 / 70 70 60 20
LGD 25 35 32 38 / 90 90 90 70
GCD 32 39 35 39 / 90 90 70 50
DLS 31 41 37 43 / 90 90 70 30
&&
.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST Wednesday for ORZ044-507-
508-510.
Ice Storm Warning until 6 PM PST Wednesday for ORZ041.
Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM PST
Thursday for ORZ505.
Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to noon PST Thursday
for ORZ502-503.
Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 4 PM PST Thursday
for ORZ050.
Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM PST Thursday
for ORZ506.
High Wind Warning until 7 AM PST Wednesday for ORZ049.
Wind Advisory from 7 AM Wednesday to 4 AM PST Thursday for
ORZ049.
Blizzard Warning until noon PST Thursday for ORZ049.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST Wednesday for WAZ029.
Ice Storm Warning until 6 PM PST Wednesday for WAZ024-026-027-
521.
Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to noon PST Thursday
for WAZ030.
Winter Weather Advisory until noon PST Wednesday for WAZ028.
Ice Storm Warning until 6 AM PST Thursday for WAZ520.
&&
80/76/94PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
831 AM PST TUE JAN 17 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0820 AM FREEZING RAIN GRANDVIEW 46.24N 119.91W
01/17/2017 E0.25 INCH YAKIMA WA TRAINED SPOTTER
1/8-1/4 INCH FREEZING RAIN FOR 15 MINUTES. ICE ON I-82
&&
DCOONThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Accumulated ice of .5 inches, 1 mile north of Trout Lake in Klickitat county.
Accumulated ice of .5 inches, 1 mile west-northwest of White Salmon in Klickitat county.
Accumulated ice of .5 inches, 4 miles south-southwest of Kittitas in Kittitas county.
Accumulated ice of .38 inches at Toppenish, in Yakima county.
Accumulated ice of .25 inches at Bickleton, in Klickitat county.
Accumulated ice of .25 inches at Prosser, in Benton county.
Accumulated ice of .5 inches, 1 mile west-southwest of Ski Bluewood in Columbia county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 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: 678510, 678512, 678514, 678515, 678518, 678527, 678531.