Heavy snow and sleet fell along the East slopes of the Washington Cascades 12/18/19-12/20/19 with up to a foot of snow and 1/4 inch of sleet reported.
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.
Heavy snow and sleet fell along the East slopes of the Washington Cascades 12/18/19-12/20/19 with up to a foot of snow and 1/4 inch of sleet reported.
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 18, 2:52 PM PST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
252 PM PST Wed Dec 18 2019
Updated aviation discussion
.SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday...Impressive upper low well
off the coast of British Columbia will help push a plume of
enhanced moisture into the region for the next few days along
with some warmer air. But first there will be a transition period
of winter weather over portions of northern Oregon and southern
Washington beginning this evening. Added several advisories from
north central Oregon through the Gorge...Simcoe Highlands...Yakima
Valley...and Kittitas Valley for this forecast Package for mixed
precipitation. It will be primarily freezing rain changing to rain
south and more of a snow changing to freezing rain then rain
north. Models are pretty aggressive in warming things near the
surface but are typically too fast in doing so. For this forecast
trended on the cold side of the guidance envelope. By midday
tomorrow any freezing precipitation should be north of the Oregon
state line. Heavy snow is expected in the Cascade east slopes
especially Thursday afternoon and evening before possibly
transitioning to rain Thursday night or early Friday as snow
levels rise above 3000 feet. 10-18 inches of snow will be possible
near Snoqualmie Pass. The Blue mountains will also see 5-9 inches
of snow. As the warmer air finally spreads over the entire region
on Friday winds will become an increasing concern especially over
eastern Oregon. Wind highlights may be required if current model
trends hold true. Some of the rivers in south central Washington
may approach bankfull this weekend with the prolonged period of
heavy precipitation. This situation will be monitored the next
few days. 78
.LONG TERM...Friday night through Wednesday...Models in good
agreement through Tuesday but begin to diverge thereafter. Moist,
southwest flow will continue into Sunday. Precipitation associated
with this flow should generally remain confined to the west side and
Cascades until Saturday when a trough is expected to move closer to
the coast. This system will impact the area Saturday through Monday
with the best chance of precipitation occurring Saturday. It may
end up being a little drier Monday as the GFS shows most of the
energy heading into California. A short-lived upper level ridge
moves over the area Tuesday. By Wednesday, the GFS shows the next
system approaching the coast while the ECMWF generally shows a weak
ridge. Given uncertainty, will keep a slight chance of precipitation
over the mountains, otherwise dry. Daytime highs will begin the
period above normal and fall to near normal by Monday and remain
there through the period. Earle
&&
.AVIATION....00Z TAFS...MVFR to IFR conditions will continue as
areas of low clouds and fog continue over the Columbia basin and
foothills. A system will bring a mix of rain, freezing rain, and
snow to the area late tonight through tomorrow. KRDM and KBND are
expected to become VFR during the afternoon. Winds will generally
be less than 10 kts, except KRDM and KBDN will be 10-15 kts with
higher gust by early afternoon. Earle
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT 28 47 39 54 / 50 60 50 10
ALW 29 44 40 54 / 50 60 60 20
PSC 29 41 36 55 / 40 50 60 20
YKM 25 34 30 46 / 50 70 90 70
HRI 28 43 37 57 / 40 60 50 10
ELN 23 34 28 41 / 50 70 90 80
RDM 31 49 39 53 / 50 70 40 30
LGD 28 39 35 46 / 50 70 60 20
GCD 30 43 39 51 / 50 80 30 0
DLS 32 42 39 52 / 80 90 90 70
&&
.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM this evening to 7 AM PST
Thursday for ORZ041-510.
Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 10 PM PST
Thursday for ORZ502.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM this evening to 7 AM PST
Thursday for WAZ024.
Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 10 PM PST
Thursday for WAZ030.
Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM this evening to noon PST
Thursday for WAZ521.
Winter Storm Warning until 4 AM PST Friday for WAZ520.
Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM Thursday to 4 AM PST Friday
for WAZ026.
Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM to 10 PM PST Thursday for
WAZ027.
&&
78/81/811 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow totals of 13 inches 2 SSE Snoqualmie Pass and one quarter inch of sleet in West Trout Lake.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2019
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: 868056.