As flurries fell Thursday morning, Mayela Cardenas decided to take ?a snow break? from her letterpress class. The ground was much to warm, though, for any of the snow to stick.
Winter’s icy grip held the South Willamette Valley on Thursday for a crisp few hours as it battled breaks of sunshine and the onset of spring, beginning in 13 days.
“It seems like Mother Nature is being a little fickle today,” University student Shannon Duff said. “When I went to class at eight this morning, it was sunny.”
Portland meteorologist Russ Willis said he was surprised to see sun this morning because the National Weather Service issued a snow advisory at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday for the southern Willamette Valley.
Students watched as feather-light flakes began descending at 9:07 a.m. on University lawns, roofs, cars and blacktop. The weather service said less than an inch of fluff was likely to accumulate below 500 feet; Eugene is 426 feet above sea level.
The early snowfall in Eugene lasted less than an hour and was followed by another short flurry at noon, the Eugene Airport reported. Willis said several storms were moving in from the coast Thursday and could drop more flakes if they cleared the Coast Range.
“Showers will be coming in as the day goes on,” Willis said. “It’ll be getting warmer, but with a good shower, you’ll get some snow anyway.”
Subsequent storms dumped a mixture of rain and snow from 1 to 2 p.m. and intermittent rain from 2 to 3:45 p.m. The University saw a barrage of ice pellets for about 10 minutes during that time. Meteorologist Jack Bohl said ice pellets are smaller than hail and are often localized.
Thursday’s snow advisory extends in a wedge from Roseburg north to Canada. Willis said the heaviest accumulation in western Oregon was in Tillamook, which reported 3 inches of snow at 8:45 a.m. Thursday. He said NWS issues an advisory if an inch of snow is expected below 1,000 feet.
Eugene Police Department spokeswoman Pam Alejandre said no major accidents were reported that could be attributed to the brief snowfall.
The forecast calls for scattered showers of mixed rain and snow today with highs in the mid 40s. Overnight lows will push the mercury to between 35 and 40 degrees. Weekend temperatures should reach highs near 50 degrees.
E-mail reporter Eric Martin
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