A cold front moved south from Washington through eastern Oregon February 13th and 14th. This front caused widespread snow across the area.
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.
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 cold front moved south from Washington through eastern Oregon February 13th and 14th. This front caused widespread snow across the area. Persist upslope flow into the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon resulted in additional accumulations.
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 Feb 14, 3:00 AM PST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
300 AM PST Wed Feb 14 2018
.SHORT TERM...Today through Friday...A frontal system is
moving through southeast WA and north central OR this morning. Light
rain and snow is falling in the Yakima Vally. Winter weather
advisories for snow have been issued for the Lower Columbia Basin of
WA...Blue Mountain Foothills of WA...and the northern Blue Mountains
of WA and OR. There is enough moisture and lift with the front to
produce 0.15-0.25 inch of liquid precipitation over the Columbia
Basin and Blue Mountain Foothills and 0.20-0.35 inches over the
northern Blue Mountains. Temperatures this morning are in the mid
30s to mid 40s in OR so a mixture of rain and snow is expected there
with temperatures limiting any snow accumulations below advisory
criteria. Another area that will see snow accumulations meeting
advisory criteria is the northern Blue Mountains. The heaviest snow
will fall this morning then taper off after the frontal passage in
the afternoon. However, a moist northwest flow aloft will continue
to bring numerous upslope showers over the northern Blues with 6-9
inches snow total by 10 PM Wednesday evening.
Westerly flow will quickly follow the front, providing enough
downsloping off the Cascades to limit snow accumulations over the
Kittitas and Yakima Valleys and along the Deschutes Plateau.
Elsewhere, up to 2 inches are expected in the valleys and 2 to 5
inches along the Southern Blues, Strawberries, Elkhorns, and Wallowa
Mountains. Breezy conditions will develop behind the front as higher
winds aloft mix to the surface this afternoon.
It will remain cool with a northwest flow aloft bringing scattered
mountain snow showers tonight...tapering off Thursday. A weak
disturbance will move through the northwesterly flow Friday. This
disturbance will combine with upslope flow to trigger a few showers
along the Cascades and in the eastern part of the CWA. Coonfield
.LONG TERM...Friday night through Tuesday. Main highlight for the
extended period will be a return to much colder temperatures.
Initially temperatures will be fairly warm Friday into Saturday
with an upper level trough moving through the region from the
northwest. This will bring rain and mountain snow. Following this
system an upper level trough and cold front will move south from
Canada across the area Sunday into Monday. This will bring in much
colder air. Snow is possible for all locations including the
Columbia basin. A dry cold northerly flow continues into Tuesday.
Temperatures during this time period will be 10-20 degrees below
normal. 94
&&
.AVIATION...12z tafs. Rain and snow will overspread all taf sites
this morning as a weather system moves across the region. Ceilings
060-100 will lower to 020-050 as precipitation begins. Steady rain
and snow will then taper off to showers this afternoon. Westerly
winds will be increasing becoming 10-20kt with a few higher gusts.
94
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT 45 30 47 33 / 90 30 10 10
ALW 46 31 48 35 / 90 40 10 10
PSC 49 31 49 36 / 70 20 10 10
YKM 48 27 49 30 / 30 10 10 10
HRI 49 31 49 35 / 70 20 10 10
ELN 45 27 45 30 / 30 10 10 10
RDM 43 23 44 25 / 40 10 10 10
LGD 41 28 41 28 / 90 40 10 10
GCD 41 27 40 26 / 80 40 10 10
DLS 49 34 51 37 / 50 10 10 10
&&
.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for ORZ502.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for WAZ030.
Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST this morning for WAZ028-
029.
&&
76/94/94The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Measured snow accumulation of 12 inches at High Ridge SNOTEL at 4920 feet MSL in the Blue Mountains of Umatilla county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, February 2018
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: 740183.