A warm front sweeping through the Pacific Northwest led to strong wind gusts across the Columbia Basin during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd. The strongest wind gusts were recorded in the lower Columbia Basin of Washington in particular.
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 warm front sweeping through the Pacific Northwest led to strong wind gusts across the Columbia Basin during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd. The strongest wind gusts were recorded in the lower Columbia Basin of Washington in particular.
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 1, 9:15 PM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pendleton OR 915 PM PST Sat Feb 1 2025 Updated Aviation Discussion .AVIATION...06z TAFs...VFR conditions expected. A bkn-ovc high cloud layer will persist overnight, before lower sct-bkn cigs settle in as the mountains are hit with light persistent precip. There is a slight chance (<20%) that TAF sites could see light precip coming off the mountains during the day tomorrow, but any impacts would be minimal. Winds will be terrain-driven overnight, before shifting more W/NW by Sunday afternoon. Evans/74 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 342 PM PST Sat Feb 1 2025/ SHORT TERM...Today through Monday night... Key Messages: 1. Snow persists across Cascades tonight. *Winter Storm and Advisories Active* 2. Snow chances increase Sunday and Monday. 3. Cooling temperatures through the period. Current radar and visible satellite imagery showing light to moderate returns along the Cascades as partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies are overhead. This is in response to the upper level low that is slowly dropping down along the British Columbia and Washington coasts tonight into Sunday before stalling offshore. As a result, light snow showers will continue across the Cascades through Monday, with significant snow amounts expected along the Ochoco and Elkhorn mountains on Monday. Snow amounts tonight over the Washington Cascades are expected to be between 2 and 4 inches, primarily above 4500 feet. Confidence in these snow amounts is moderate as the HREF advertises a 60% chance of 2 inches or more snowfall into Sunday morning. These expected amounts, especially until 4 PM, have warranted the continuation of a Winter Storm Warning across the east slopes of the Washington Cascades above 3000 feet and a Winter Weather Advisory over the east slopes of the Oregon Cascades until 4 PM. The upper level low will continue to slowly drop south on Sunday, tapping into subtropical moisture originating from the central Pacific. The moisture is poised to drive into northern California, but will slowly waver north through the day. This will provide additional moisture along the Cascades and Blues as 4 to 7 inches of snow will be possible at pass level. However, confidence in these amounts is low (40%) as guidance has a tough time determining how much the moisture will track north associated with the Atmospheric River that will impact Northern California. For example, the HREF suggests only a 40-60% chance of 4 inches of snow or more across Santiam Pass Sunday, which is below the lower threshold of 5 inches associated with a Winter Weather Advisory. Thus, will hold off on the issuance of any winter products until confidence improves. Monday looks to only bring 2-5 inches across the Cascade and Blue Mountains, but the Atmospheric River does look to waver a little further north to impact the Ochoco's and Elkhorn's. The current forecast calls for 4 to 8 inches of snow on Monday over the Ochoco's under 5500 feet, which is between Advisory and Warning criteria. Much like on Monday, confidence is quite low (30-40%) as the NBM showcases a 25-50% chance if 4 inches or more of snowfall over the Ochoco's. This low confidence stems from the variability of moisture transport/plume location and how far it tracks north from northern California, and the wide run-to-run difference present with deterministic and ensemble guidance. This will have to be further analyzed as the event nears, but do be prepared for winter weather as the current forecast does put about a half inch of snow over the Bend/Redmond area and along the Blue Mountain foothills. High temperatures today reached into the mid-to upper 40s across lower elevations of the Basin and foothills, as a cooling trend continues into the early part of the workweek. Cold air will be accompanying the dropping upper level low pressure along the coast, allowing high temperatures to drop 3 to 6 degrees today to Sunday and another 2 to 6 degrees Sunday to Monday as afternoon temperatures will peak in the upper 30s to low 40s. Low temperatures this morning dropped into the mid-to upper 30s, dropping around 5 degrees on Sunday morning and another 3 to 6 degrees Monday morning with values bottoming-out in the mid-to upper 20s. 75 LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday... The large upper trough will continue over the PacNW throughout this long term with these progressive systems. There is a 40-70% chance of mountain snow through Thursday up to 6" or above, though the crest of WA Cascades could reach up to 8" (40% confidence). Everywhere else will remain at 1" or less. Breezy winds (15-25 mph) might occur Tuesday around Yakima Valley and small portions of the Lower Basin of WA. This is due to increased SWLY flow. Other than that, light winds will remain through the rest of the forecast area for this period. Snow showers may continue lingering into Wednesday as the first system moves out. With a transient ridge over the PacNW Thursday, the next system will bring more moisture Friday onwards with more snow showers as the trough makes its way over to the PacNW offshore. Temperatures will remain below normal for the forecast period. It is strongly recommended to wear warm clothing when outdoors during night hours as the temps will reach to the teens and single digits. Feaster/97 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 29 40 25 36 / 10 20 20 30 ALW 31 42 27 38 / 10 20 30 30 PSC 31 44 27 40 / 0 10 10 20 YKM 24 39 21 36 / 0 30 10 20 HRI 31 44 27 39 / 10 10 10 20 ELN 19 34 17 32 / 10 30 20 20 RDM 27 37 22 36 / 10 10 10 40 LGD 28 38 23 36 / 20 50 40 50 GCD 30 39 24 38 / 30 40 40 70 DLS 31 44 28 40 / 20 40 40 50 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...None. && SHORT TERM...75 LONG TERM....97 AVIATION...74
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sites a part of the Hanford Site Mesonet (Gable West and the Emergency Operations Center) recorded max wind gusts of 60 and 59 mph, respectively.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, February 2025
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: 1235554.