A cold front associated with a strong low pressure system off the coast of Victoria Island brought strong, gusty winds to the south Washington coast.
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 PQR wrote it up.
A cold front associated with a strong low pressure system off the coast of Victoria Island brought strong, gusty winds to the south Washington coast.
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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 3, 9:01 AM PST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Portland OR
901 AM PST Thu Jan 3 2019
.Updated aviation section.
.SYNOPSIS...A warm front will bring rain to the north this morning
before a cold front produces more widespread rain and Cascade snow
tonight and Friday. This front will also produce strong winds along
coastal beaches and headlands this evening. Showers decrease Friday
night and Saturday morning. Rain returns Saturday afternoon and
persists through the weekend as a low approaches from the SW and
moves across NW Oregon.
&&
.SHORT TERM...Today through Sunday...Light rain associated with a
warm or occluded front is starting to reach the north oregon and
south Washington coast early this morning. The rain is not very
impressive on radar imagery currently, but should become more
noticeable late this morning as the front moves across the Pacific
NW. The rain will be mainly confined to the coast and areas north of
Salem with inland areas south of Salem seeing very little to no rain
today. Think that surface temperatures in the central Columbia Gorge
and Upper Hood River Valley will warm above freezing either before
the rain reaches there or slightly after minimizing the threat for
freezing rain. The rain will be light in most areas today with the
highest rainfall totals expected for the Willapa Hills and the SW
Washington Cascade foothills where some areas may measure close to a
half of an inch of rain. Less than 0.10 inch is expected for the
Portland metro area today and only a couple of hundredths for the
interior valleys south of the Portland. Snow levels are rising and
should be around 6000 feet in a few hours.
Rain will be more impressive with the cold front tonight, but the
quick moving nature of the front will keep rainfall totals less than
an inch with the exception for the Willapa Hills where some locations
will see around an inch of rain this evening through Friday morning.
Snow levels will dip down to 3500 to 4000 feet for 2 to 5 inches of
snow for the Oregon Cascades and slightly higher amounts for the
south Washington Cascades. Have issued a winter weather advisory for
the WA Cascades tonight through Friday morning for snow levels 3500
feet and above. In addition to precipitation, the cold front will
bring strong winds to the coast this evening where gusts of 45-50 mph
is expected along the beaches and headlands. Interior valleys can
expect 25-30 mph gusts with the front passage late tonight.
SHowers will decrease Friday afternoon and evening, but another front
associated with a low offshore of CA will continue a threat for rain
and Cascade snow Friday night. Saturday morning will be mostly dry,
but rain returns Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning as the low
moves across NW Oregon. Snow levels will hover around 3000 feet this
weekend and expect steady light snow accumulations for the Cascades
through the weekend.
.LONG TERM...Sunday night through Wednesday...As Monday approaches we
see a low once again pointed towards Vancouver Island, with the
associated front keeping the area well saturated through the early
part of next week. /42
&&
.AVIATION...A warm front brushing the region this morning is
bringing light rain and MVFR cigs to the coast and the interior
lowlands north of KSLE. The coast should remain predominantly
MVFR through the rest of the day. As the warm front lifts north,
expect the interior to improve to mainly VFR from 18Z-20Z. Rain
should also taper off over the interior during the afternoon and
evening hours. The trailing cold front will push onto the coast
later this evening, then push east of the Coast Range after
midnight. This will result in light rain and MVFR cigs returning
to the interior lowlands, with the coast possibly improving to
VFR overnight in the mixier post-frontal airmass. The front looks
to stall over the lowlands through Fri morning. South wind gusts
will increase to 30 to 40 kt with peak gusts near 45 kt along the
coast this evening as the front moves through.
KPDX AND APPROACHES...MVFR cigs and light rain this morning with
a weak warm front. Expect improvement to VFR by midday as the
front lifts north. VFR should then prevail through this evening.
A cold front will move onshore overnight, likely resulting in
conditions deteriorating to MVFR in light rain late tonight
through Fri morning. Pyle
&&
.MARINE...Southerly winds gusting 30 to 35 kt in the waters north
of Cascade Head through the night and is ramping up in the
waters south of Cascade Head. Gale force winds can be expected
through tonight with the warm front this morning and the cold
front tonight. South winds will likely gust to 45 kt with the
strong cold front tonight. After the front clears the waters late
tonight, a following trough should bring southwesterly 35 kt
gusts to the waters north of about Garibaldi.
Seas will continue to build today then peak around 20 feet Friday
morning. Initially seas will be dominated by wind driven waves
then a building westerly swell arrives early Friday morning. Surf
heights approach High Surf Advisory criteria, so we may even
need a High Surf Advisory for late Thursday night and Friday
morning with the large seas. But at this time it looks like it
will be below advisory criteria.
Winds finally drop below 20 kt Friday afternoon, with a break in
the weather pattern as the next system stays well to our south.
Seas drop below 10 feet late Saturday afternoon or Saturday
evening. The next system to impact our waters could bring another
round of gales Sunday night into early Monday, but models are not
in very good agreement for early next week. /mh
&&
.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...None.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 10 AM PST
Friday for South Washington Cascades.
PZ...Gale Warning until 6 AM PST Friday for Coastal Waters from Cape
Shoalwater WA to Cascade Head OR out 60 NM.
Gale Warning until 4 AM PST Friday for Coastal Waters from
Cascade Head OR to Florence OR out 60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar until 6 AM
PST Friday.
&&
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This discussion is for Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington
from the Cascade crest to 60 nautical miles offshore. This area is
commonly referred to as the forecast area.1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A weather station on Cape Dissappointment recorded sustained winds up to 53 mph with wind gusts up to 68 mph. Another weather station on Megler Bridge recorded sustained winds up to 48 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.
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, January 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: 802470.