AN upper level trough and surface frontal passage resulted in heavy snow occurring in the higher terrain of the Eastern Columbia River Gorge, near the east slopes of the Cascade mountain range.
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The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.
AN upper level trough and surface frontal passage resulted in heavy snow occurring in the higher terrain of the Eastern Columbia River Gorge, near the east slopes of the Cascade mountain range.
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 8, 9:31 AM PST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 931 AM PST Thu Dec 8 2022 Updated Aviation Discussion .AVIATION...18Z TAFs...RA and SN expected all sites over the next 24 hours along with light winds. This will limit visibilities, along with lowering ceilings, promoting MVFR to LIFR conditions. RASN exits by tomorrow morning, but BR/FG will cause continued visibility issues, particularly ALW. Goatley/87 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 901 AM PST Thu Dec 8 2022/ MORNING UPDATE...The first of two rounds of winter weather is upon us, as an oncoming trough is currently causing light snow to fall along the east slopes of the Cascades. General expectation remains that any snow amounts across the forecast area today will be relatively light, with the main forecast challenge lying in precipitation type across the lower Basin. Keeping an eye on temperatures this morning, and seeing mostly upper 20s to low 30s in the lower Basin, with warming expected to occur with the SW shift in the flow aloft this afternoon. Thus, forecast is expected to remain a snowy start before transitioning to rain to possibly a light mix by the afternoon and early evening. Previous forecast had a mention of freezing rain in parts of the lower Basin, but thermodynamic profile from forecast soundings this morning doesn't seem too supportive of that, so will leave forecast as just a mix right now. Not too overly concerned about icy precip this morning, and any such occurrence should be brief and of little impact. Morning update focused primarily on changes to precip onset and type, with all other elements of the forecast remaining unchanged. Evans/74 PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 405 AM PST Thu Dec 8 2022/ SHORT TERM...Today through Friday Night...Current nighttime satellite imagery is showing some localized areas of dense fog.Freezing fog advisory still in affect until 7am. Winter weather advisory goes into affect beginning at 10am Thursday for the Southern Blue Mountains (2-4 inches >80%), John-Day Basin (2-4 inches, >80%)and the Ochoco-John Day Highlands (4-6 inches, >80%). Also, do to a tough of warm air advection aloft, there is a slight chance of freezing rain for parts of the Basin. Please drive safe this morning during the commute. We will start the day with some areas of freezing fog but otherwise relatively dry. The first wave of the incoming system will reach the CWA this morning and stay mainly against the Cascades. By late morning the SREF/NAM/HRRR show that the trough will dig a bit farther south and inland bringing the precipitation across the CWA. Higher chances (80-90%) of snow along the Cascades and Central OR with slight chances(30-60%) of snow along the Blues and the lower elevations. By the afternoon the models show the trough has again shifted pushing the precipitation more along the Ochoco-John Day highlands and the Blues (>80%). Snow totals for this initial storm will be 0-2 inches in Central OR, the Basin and adjacent valleys. The Blue Mountains will see up to 6 inches along with the Ochoco-John Day Highlands. This evening and into Friday afternoon, the SREF/HRRR/NAM have the axis of the trough moving east the CWA and there is a brief ridge that moves in that clears the precipitation out, except for the mountains. SW flow aloft will dominate the region and downsloping winds will occur across the Highlands and the Blues. ECMWF EFI is signaling some high winds Thursday into Friday so expect breezy conditions through Central OR and across the Blue Mountains. Downsloping winds will be associated with the SW flow so temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees warmer in some places from yesterday. Mid to upper 30s in Central OR, the Gorge, Foothills of the Blues and the Basin and adjacent valleys. But wait...there's more. Late Friday afternoon another system will move into the region bringing with it more precipitation. This next system appears to be a bit more wet as the models are showing a significant amount of QPF associated with it. The entire CWA will see snow (>80%) and a few isolated areas in Central OR will see a rain/snow mix. Temperatures will be much the same as today in the mid to upper 30s for the lower elevations and upper 20s for the higher elevations. Winds will again be breezy again across the southern portion of the CWA with a SW component. Bennese/90 LONG TERM...Saturday through Thursday...The next system approaching Friday night and Saturday may require winter and wind highlights in some of our forecast zones, but it's better to focus on today's system to avoid confusion with these two separate systems. On Saturday, the elongated trough will be offshore and a moist southwest flow aloft will be over the PacNW. Cold air damming along the east slopes of the WA Cascades will keep snow levels down to the valley floors while areas to the south observe rising snow levels to around 4500 feet. Easterly low level upslope flow combined with the moist southwest flow aloft will result in heavy snow along the east slopes of the WA Cascades as well as the higher elevations of the OR Cascades. The eastern mountains will have around a 30-50 percent chance of moderate snow accumulations around 4-6 inches, mainly the higher peaks of the Wallowas and Ochoco Mountains. Winds will be strong, especially in the Grande Ronde Valley and the Blue Mountain Foothills. The ECMWF EFI highlights this area as climatologically strong wind gusts and all of the members of the ECMWF ENS show gusts ranging from 45-55 mph for LGD, PDT and ALW. Models are in agreement with the passage of the trough over WA/OR Saturday night and Sunday, lowering snow levels down to 1500-2500 feet by Sunday morning. Although snow will decrease in coverage, this pattern typically results in localized heavy snow showers that will impact travel. The parent closed low will track to the SSE Sunday through Monday. Overall, the models in agreement although some of the ensembles members of the Canadian and ECMWF are faster at pushing the system out of the region. The departing low will develop into a large trough over the Great Plains, and WA/OR will be on the front side of an amplified ridge Monday night and Tuesday. If this verifies, the northerly flow aloft will make it bitterly cold during this time. There is some uncertainty for the remainder of the long term period based on variable solutions in the ensemble runs. The deterministic GFS and ECMWF are hinting at the high amplitude ridge getting pinched off by a low off the central Pacific and the broad trough to the east. This would leave our area mostly dry but under a cold northerly flow. The NBM keep subfreezing temperatures during the day and night as well as a slight chance of light snow over the mountains and agree. Wister/85 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 37 24 37 27 / 60 80 10 80 ALW 37 27 38 27 / 50 80 10 70 PSC 33 25 34 28 / 70 60 0 80 YKM 31 16 32 23 / 50 20 0 90 HRI 34 25 35 28 / 70 60 0 80 ELN 31 16 30 22 / 50 20 0 90 RDM 39 19 37 29 / 70 50 10 90 LGD 32 22 34 24 / 30 90 10 80 GCD 37 21 34 25 / 50 90 0 90 DLS 34 26 38 31 / 90 50 30 100 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 4 AM PST Friday for ORZ503-505-506. WA...None. && SHORT TERM...74 LONG TERM....85 AVIATION...87
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter 1 mile west of White Salmon, WA measured 4 inches of new snow at 1800 PST on Dec. 8th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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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: 1073176.