167
FXUS66 KPDT 152253
AFDPDT

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
253 PM PST Sun Feb 15 2026


.DISCUSSION...

Fog continues to impact the areas this afternoon, after having
improving visibility in central Oregon, the foothills of the
Blue Mountains have experienced sub one quarter mile visibility
all morning. There had been a slight improvement based on
webcams in the Cabbage Hill/Deadman Pass area as rain showers
have moved through the area winds around noon. However as the
rains passed the conditions again deteriorated with a sustained
upslope wind component. A dense fog advisory has been issued as
well for that area of the Oregon Northern Blue Mountain
Foothills through midnight.

NBM 25th to 75th percentile snowfall is 6 to 8 inches respectively,
and providing fairly high confidence for advisory level snow at
the Santiam pass level ending sometime Tuesday. Winter Weather
Advisories will be posted for the period from midnight Tonight
through Tuesday night, for the eastern slopes of the Oregon
Cascades, and from 4 am Monday through the end of the afternoon
on Wednesday for the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon and
Washington.

The atmospheric river trends southward into CA and the sw US,
which doesnt favor higher moisture content, which is reflected
in the declining PWAT values though the week. Countering this is
the invasion of much colder air aloft where 500 mb temps go
from -25C to -35 C Monday Night into Tuesday anchoring over the
region for the remainder of the week driving snow to liquid
ratios higher to the 15 to 20:1 range through the mountain
zones. Snow ratios drop to under 1000 ft by the Wednesday night,
promoting chances for snow accumulations as well in some of the
highland valleys, and areas away from the foothills, and
continue to crash to near the surface even in the Columbia
Basin. This should lead to at least a rain snow mix chance for
most of the low lands by Thursday.

Additional snows are anticipated for the Wednesday and Thursday
time frame, and additional advisories may be needed. The
uncertainty is high with respect to afternoon and even overnight
temperatures heading into the middle of the week. While the NBM
does cool highs to the upper 30s by Thursday afternoon through
the River Gorge and across the Lower Columbia Basin , the colder
members of the ensembles would suggest even highs in the upper
20s across the foothills of the Blues. Russell/71

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/...

.AVIATION...00Z TAFS...Variable conditions across all sites, with
VFR at KRDM/KBDN, MVFR at KPSC/KYKM/KDLS, and IFR at KPDT/KALW due
to reduced ceilings of 600 feet. Ceilings are expected to improve
slightly this afternoon before dropping to LIFR levels (300-400
feet) along with 1/2SM visibilities for KPDT/KALW. These LIFR
ceiling levels are also anticipated to occur for KPSC overnight into
Monday morning as light rain approaches and begins mid-morning.
Light rain will be widespread and drop ceilings and visibilities to
IFR levels for KDLS/KYKM mid-morning on Monday as well. Fog is also
likely to return for KRDM/KBDN with a light rain/snow mix through
the early morning hours. 75

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
PDT  34  44  27  44 /  30  90  60  30
ALW  37  46  30  45 /  40  90  70  50
PSC  35  46  29  48 /  30  80  30  10
YKM  32  43  24  42 /  10  60  10  10
HRI  36  46  28  47 /  30  80  40  10
ELN  28  39  22  37 /  10  50  20  30
RDM  30  44  22  38 /  30  60  20  30
LGD  33  49  25  40 /  30  90  90  70
GCD  33  47  24  38 /  20  80  80  70
DLS  38  45  29  44 /  30  80  40  50

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM Monday to 3 PM PST Wednesday
     for WAZ030.
OR...Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM Monday to 3 PM PST Wednesday
     for ORZ502.
     Dense Fog Advisory until midnight PST tonight for ORZ507.
     Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 10 PM PST
     Tuesday for ORZ509.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...71
AVIATION...75