This website works best with a newer web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported by this website.

CIMSS Satellite Blog

MENU

Portland, Oregon heavy snow event

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-15 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

GOES-15 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

A surface low moving inland (3-hourly surface analyses) helped to produce widespread rain and snow across much of Oregon and southern Washington during the 10 January – 11 January 2017 period. 4-km resolution GOES-15 (GOES-West) Infrared images (above) and Water Vapor images (below) showed the development of a deformation band that helped to focus and prolong moderate to heavy snowfall over the Portland, Oregon area (accumulations | historical perspective). The GOES-15 images are centered at Portland International Airport (station identifier KPDX).

GOES-15 Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

GOES-15 Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

1-km resolution GOES-15 Visible (0.63 µm) images (below) during the last few hours of daylight on 10 January revealed the shadowing and textured signature of numerous embedded convective elements moving inland, which were helping to enhance precipitation rates (and even produce thundersnow at a few locations, a phenomenon which is very unusual for the Pacific Northwest).

GOES-15 Visible (0.63 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

GOES-15 Visible (0.63 µm) images, with hourly reports of surface weather type [click to play animation]

===== 12 January Update =====

As clouds cleared in the wake of the storm, a comparison of 375-meter resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) images viewed using RealEarth (below) revealed the extent of the snow cover; snow appears as shades of cyan in the false-color image, in contrast to clouds which appear as shades of white. [Note: with 5 inches of snow remaining on the ground, a new record low temperature was set in Portland on 13 January]

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS true-color and false-color RGB images [click to enlarge]

The fresh snowfall was also apparent in a 30-meter resolution Landsat-8 false-color RGB image (below) along the south face of Mount Hood (located about 98 miles or 158 km east of Portland). The ski slopes of Timberline Lodge and  Mount Hood Meadows received 13-14 inches of new snow during this event; the snow base depth at Timberline was greater than the average amount for this time of year.

Landsat-8 false-color RGB image [click to play zoom-in animation]

Landsat-8 false-color RGB image [click to play zoom-in animation]

Categories: GOES-15, Landsat, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS