Major February Snow in Portland: Is It Really Possible?

The snow freakout started this week when our phone apps said this:

And the big screens in schools and offices showed this:

Now to what most of us in the I-5 corridor and along the coast are wondering. Could we end up with this?

Do you remember December 2008? This (above) was my brother and sister in-law’s backyard in Milwaukie, Oregon. It was a 50-year snow event (happening, on average, once every 50 years) and a 40-year cold event. 

Now as we start the second full week of February 2019, we know this much: our biggest snow of the winter is likely en-route for many areas on Saturday, even if you get rain at first. Many areas should have between 1-4″ of snow by the end of Saturday, including parts of the coast which just had snow a few days ago.

Is “major Portland snow” possible in February?

And then there is talk (and that’s about all it is until we get closer) of a more significant snowstorm for Monday into Tuesday.  

While the forecast tools try to nail down exactly what’s going to happen, it seems like a good idea to find out how often we have major sticking snow in February. Is it even possible?

It turns out it happens more often than most of us may remember. And there’s a good chance we’ll be having a “top 10” February snow event in the next few days.

Snow in February: what the record books say

I’m using Portland Airport in my research here because the records are the most detailed. Here are 3 Portland snow facts from the National Weather Service about snow in February at PDX:

• Deepest February snow in Portland: 14″ on February 1, 1950
• Heaviest 24 hour February snowfall in Portland: 12″ on February 12, 1995
• The February with the most days of measurable snowfall: February 1949, with 12 snow days 

And now, check this out.

12 Biggest February Snowfalls in Portland at PDX

Now, let’s rank the top 12 biggest February storms. And just for fun, I’ll highlight the dates that are past mid-February, when sticking snow is statistically much less likely on the valley floor.

1.  12.0” February 12, 1995
2.   6.1″ February 19, 1993
3.   5.2″ February 12, 1990
4.   5.0″ February 2, 1949
5.   4.2″ February 20, 2018
6.   4.1″  February 18, 1949
7.   3.8″  February 6, 2014
8.   3.2″  February 28, 1962
9.   2.8″  February 17, 1986
10.   2.3″  February 15, 1990
11.   2.2″  February 8, 2014
12.   2.0″ February 24, 1994 (and other years)

Are you doing the math on this list? Half of February’s biggest snowfalls have happened in the second half of the month! 

Now you know the story of significant or major February snowstorms in Portland.