Swath of snow leaves trail of records in Pacific Northwest
By
John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 11, 2022 6:09 PM EDT
|
Updated Apr 12, 2022 3:19 PM EDT
After a promising few days of warm weather, parts of the Northwest received snow once again.
The sunny warm weather that overtook much of the Pacific Northwest last week quickly became a distant memory as snow began to fall in the area. The storm system that brought a record amount of snow to the Pacific Northwest came ashore on Sunday night, bringing plenty of snow to the area into Monday. Many residents in the area were surprised to see so much snowfall this late into the year.
"In my 53 years, I have never seen this much snow in the Portland/Vancouver area," Vancouver, Washington, resident Winde Bekins Chavez told AccuWeather.
Chavez began her day driving her husband to Portland International Airport at 4:30 a.m., noticing the unusual snowfall in the early morning hours. Portland International Airport recorded 1 inch of snow as of Monday morning, bringing the city its first measurable snowfall in April on record.
Roads were packed with snow during Chavez's commute, but she stated it was lucky that little traffic was on the road that early.
"Everyone I encountered was keeping safe distances from each other and driving safely," explained Chavez.
Snow piled up in Portland, Oregon, from a storm system that brought the city its first measurable snow in April on record. (Twitter/Nicholas Nelson)
The snow was described as heavy and wet by Chavez, who also said trees in her neighborhood started to lose limbs at around 9 a.m. on Monday. She said that she spent the morning "clearing snow off of my trees in my garden, and from the roof of my construction trailer and boathouse."
Typically, Portland records its last snow of the season on Feb. 9, though measurable snow does fall in March at times, most recently in 2020. But only twice before has the city received measurable snow after March. In 1953, Portland received 0.1 of an inch of snow on May 1, followed by half an inch on May 8.
"I like the snowy weather...when it's December or January. But this snow seems a bit out of place in April," Portland resident Nicholas Nelson told AccuWeather.
High temperatures in Portland topped 75 degrees Fahrenheit this past Thursday, April 7, causing quite a weather whiplash event for those in the Pacific Northwest.
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"On Thursday, I was mowing my lawn in shorts…and today I was bundled up shoveling snow and protecting my budding trees," said Chavez.
Temperatures bottomed out at 34 early Monday morning, creating a 41-degree temperature swing from last Thursday.
"My front yard was blooming with tons of wildflowers up until this morning. I expect a lot of local gardeners won't be happy with this weather," said Nelson.
Highest snowfall amounts in the Northwest in the 24-hour period ending 10:30 a.m. PT on April 11, 2022.
As of Monday afternoon, the most snow to come from the storm was in the city of Dalles, Oregon, which recorded 15 inches. The highest snow total from Washington was recorded in Snowden, which tallied over a foot of snow.
Locally heavy snow will be possible for portions of Utah, Idaho and Montana as the storm moves toward North and South Dakota and Minnesota through Tuesday night.
Additional snow is forecast for the Portland area into Wednesday, forecasters say.
“As another storm pushes inland over the Northwest, the air will be cold enough to allow another dose of accumulating snow down to near sea level along parts of the Oregon and southwestern Washington coasts Wednesday morning,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
An accumulation of an inch or two is most likely at low elevations, but several inches can pile up over the hilltops and mountains, according to Sosnowski.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Weather News
Swath of snow leaves trail of records in Pacific Northwest
By John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 11, 2022 6:09 PM EDT | Updated Apr 12, 2022 3:19 PM EDT
After a promising few days of warm weather, parts of the Northwest received snow once again.
The sunny warm weather that overtook much of the Pacific Northwest last week quickly became a distant memory as snow began to fall in the area. The storm system that brought a record amount of snow to the Pacific Northwest came ashore on Sunday night, bringing plenty of snow to the area into Monday. Many residents in the area were surprised to see so much snowfall this late into the year.
"In my 53 years, I have never seen this much snow in the Portland/Vancouver area," Vancouver, Washington, resident Winde Bekins Chavez told AccuWeather.
Chavez began her day driving her husband to Portland International Airport at 4:30 a.m., noticing the unusual snowfall in the early morning hours. Portland International Airport recorded 1 inch of snow as of Monday morning, bringing the city its first measurable snowfall in April on record.
Roads were packed with snow during Chavez's commute, but she stated it was lucky that little traffic was on the road that early.
"Everyone I encountered was keeping safe distances from each other and driving safely," explained Chavez.
Snow piled up in Portland, Oregon, from a storm system that brought the city its first measurable snow in April on record. (Twitter/Nicholas Nelson)
The snow was described as heavy and wet by Chavez, who also said trees in her neighborhood started to lose limbs at around 9 a.m. on Monday. She said that she spent the morning "clearing snow off of my trees in my garden, and from the roof of my construction trailer and boathouse."
Typically, Portland records its last snow of the season on Feb. 9, though measurable snow does fall in March at times, most recently in 2020. But only twice before has the city received measurable snow after March. In 1953, Portland received 0.1 of an inch of snow on May 1, followed by half an inch on May 8.
"I like the snowy weather...when it's December or January. But this snow seems a bit out of place in April," Portland resident Nicholas Nelson told AccuWeather.
High temperatures in Portland topped 75 degrees Fahrenheit this past Thursday, April 7, causing quite a weather whiplash event for those in the Pacific Northwest.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"On Thursday, I was mowing my lawn in shorts…and today I was bundled up shoveling snow and protecting my budding trees," said Chavez.
Temperatures bottomed out at 34 early Monday morning, creating a 41-degree temperature swing from last Thursday.
"My front yard was blooming with tons of wildflowers up until this morning. I expect a lot of local gardeners won't be happy with this weather," said Nelson.
Highest snowfall amounts in the Northwest in the 24-hour period ending 10:30 a.m. PT on April 11, 2022.
As of Monday afternoon, the most snow to come from the storm was in the city of Dalles, Oregon, which recorded 15 inches. The highest snow total from Washington was recorded in Snowden, which tallied over a foot of snow.
Locally heavy snow will be possible for portions of Utah, Idaho and Montana as the storm moves toward North and South Dakota and Minnesota through Tuesday night.
Additional snow is forecast for the Portland area into Wednesday, forecasters say.
“As another storm pushes inland over the Northwest, the air will be cold enough to allow another dose of accumulating snow down to near sea level along parts of the Oregon and southwestern Washington coasts Wednesday morning,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
An accumulation of an inch or two is most likely at low elevations, but several inches can pile up over the hilltops and mountains, according to Sosnowski.
Related:
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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