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Hi this is Bill Schneider, Science and Operations Officer for the National Weather Service in
Portland Oregon with a quick update on the snow forecast for Northwest Oregon and Southwest
Washington Thursday Feb 6 through Friday Feb 7, 2014
At 10 am Thursday a low pressure system was off the central Oregon coast as seen in the
image here. The blue lines snow the sea level pressure and the low pressure system. The
dark yellow lines in the image are the freezing level heightůsloping from the surface in
the north to around 5000 feet over southern Oregon. The shading shows the surface temperatures.
Black is below freezing and the brighter colors are the warmer region. Northwest OR and Southwest
WA are all below freezing and cold air continues to move toward the low pressure system from
the eastůespecially through the Columbia River Gorge.
This image shows the forecast of precipitation from one of our models. Notice the two bandsůone
to the north and one over the central portions. This model has the precipitation a little
too far south as seen in
the radar image in the lower left corner. Snowfall is expected to increase across the
area from southwest Washington to the south Willamette valley this afternoon and evening.
Notice the freezing level remains at the surface across the entire Willamette Valley. This
model indicates half an inch of precipitation will fall over a broad area during the afternoon
which should translate to 3 to 7 inches of snow.
Overnight the low will slide south of our area and snow will be falling mostly in the
Cascades. A few lighter showers may continue in the Southwest Washington Interior and the
Willamette Valley. This image is for Friday at 4am.
Friday morning Temperatures should remain below freezing in all areas as colder air
continues to move in from the north and east. With plenty of snow on the ground and some
breaks in the cloudsůexpect another very cold night tonight. This image is for Friday
at 4am. A break in the snow is expected Friday morning
but our models indicate snow will increase from the south again on Friday. This image
is at 4 pm Friday as another surface low moves onto the central Oregon coast.
We believe that Temperatures on Friday will continue to remain below freezing in all but
the central Oregon coast. As the surface low approaches the coast cold air will continue
to flood into the Willamette Valley from the northeast. This model does show some warming
at the surface but we believe that it will remain cold enough for mostly snow with the
exception of the central coast where it is possible there could be brief freezing rain
or rain. Hers a summary of the Forecast, impacts, Timing
and Confidence levels for the Southwest Washington
and Northwest.