PENDLETON — Early season storms have Northeast Oregon snow enthusiasts anticipating a snowy winter, and the extended forecast shouldn’t disappoint.

Most of Oregon’s mountains were well above 100% of average snowpack by mid-November, a drastic difference from many winters in the past decade when some ranges didn’t reach 100% the entire year or at least until well into the spring.

“The snowpack in Eastern Oregon, as well as the rest of the state, looks pretty good right now,” said Rob Brooks, a National Weather Service forecaster in Pendleton. “What we anticipate is a normal amount of precipitation for Pendleton.”

The Emigrant Springs Snotel, an automated snow and precipitation measuring station near Emigrant Springs State Park south of Pendleton, had as of Thursday, Dec. 3, measured 6.7 inches of precipitation since the start of the water year Oct. 1, slightly below the average of 7.3 inches for that period.

The High Ridge Snotel, near Tollgate east of Pendleton, has recorded 12.2 inches of precipitation since Oct. 1, compared with the average of 10.8 inches. The water equivalent in the snowpack as of Dec. 3, was 4.9 inches, slightly above the average of 4.7 inches.

With vast differences in elevation across the region, Brooks said snowfall and weather patterns can also vary considerably. He said La Nina weather patterns from the Pacific that bring a lot of moisture, as is predicted for this winter, have an impact in Eastern Oregon, but most inland Northwest weather depends on the timing and speed of the systems and air temperature.

“Our weather patterns occur on micro scales,” he said. “We have small areas where an inversion sets up — the basin can be 28 degrees with fog, while it can be sunny and 60 degrees in Meacham.”

Precipitation for Pendleton and the basin averages 1.55 inches in December, 1.51 inches in January and 1.17 inches in February.

Winter temperatures and precipitation can vary greatly.

“Last year, we packed up pretty good, and then had floods caused by rain on top of the snowpack,” Brooks said.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website, Northeast Oregon should expect normal to slightly below normal precipitation with near normal to slightly above normal temperatures for the rest of December.

When discussing what’s “normal” winter weather, Brooks pulled up some interesting data. It’s not unusual to have a 70-degree day in Pendleton in late January or early February. Despite the welcome reprieve from winter’s grip, sometimes these false spring days cause disaster. In 1996, a year of much flooding in Eastern Oregon, Brooks said it was minus 12 on February 3 and 75 degrees on February 8.

According to Brooks, the coldest month since the weather service began recording temperature in Pendleton was during the winter of 1948, when the average low temperature was 20 degrees and snowpack at Meacham that winter totaled 155.3 inches. The coldest day since temperature has been recorded was minus 22 in Pendleton on Jan. 27, 1957.