Severe Weather

A Look At The Great Northwest Ice Storm

By Benjamin Persitz

What Was It?

A strong, snow, wind, and ice storm, that blanketed the area for several days, slowing our daily life to

a snails place.

The Where

● The Pacific Northwest/West Coast, stretching from Seattle-Northern California

● We are mostly focused on the Portland/Vancouver metro area.

The When

● The main ice storm was January 5-9, 2004

● Main event started on January 1, 2004

● Was only expected to last for 1 day

So what exactly happened?

January 1, 2004

● A cyclone moves across Southern Oregon, and Northrn California.

● Has peak wind speeds of over 70 MPH in some areas

● Spreads cold winter weather across the area

Setting The Stage● Cold air was pushed through the Gorge and into the

Willamette Valley, causing a short spell of heavy snowfall over the region that would set the stage for the ice storm.

● Temperatures were below normal as cold air pooled in the area. These temperatures would remain low for the next several days.

● Areas of Southern and Eastern Oregon experienced blizzard like conditions and heavy snowfall.

January 3 and 4

● A strong Arctic Cold Front begins to move southward towards the area. The already low temperatures drop drastically and set record lows on January 5th and 6th.

● Highs for those days were in the mid to low 20's

January 5

● The cold, dry, air mass from the North kept temperatures cold, and on January 5, a large system of moisture arrived from the Pacific. Forecasters expected the cold temperatures and snow to stick around for a day, then leave. They were wrong.

January 6-9● Warm air aloft from the Pacific begins to

override the cold, dry, air. As moisture falls, freezing rain forms, and the low temperatures at the surface blanket the region with a sheet of ice. Forecast models expected a quick warming, but it took several days (until January 9) for this to occur on a large scale.

The Results

● Portland International Airport was closed for 2 days. This was the first time in the airport's history that it was closed for that long.

● Kids were kept out of school for days● Unprepared road crews could not keep roads safe

for vehicles. Many people were forced to stay in their homes and life slowed to a crawl in the area.

● Large parts of the two states were without power for days.

Sources

● http://ams.confex.com/ams/33Broadcast/techprogram/paper_77515.htm

● http://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/January012004.html

● http://www.oregonphotos.com/Ice%20Storm%202004.html

● Google Image Search