© Crater Lake National ParkCrater Lake snow
Areas such as Crescent and Crater Lake National Park saw between 2 and 3 inches of snow, while other parts of the region saw temperatures dip as low as the 30s.
Meteorologist Mike Petrucelli, of the National Weather Center's Medford office, said both cool and moist weather is abnormal for mid-July, but not impossible.
"It's not unheard of, but just unusual" said Petrucelli.
He said the weather this time of year is dry and warm and should return to normal later in the week, with a possible cold front moving in by the weekend. Petrucelli said, if the weather does cool down, he does not expect it will be as extreme as Sunday.
Up at Crater Lake, the park had to suspend boat tours because of the poor weather at the rim. Park Ranger Charlie Waller said this was the latest July snowfall anyone working at the park could remember.
He said current conditions have returned to sunny and cool with moderate winds.
For farmers in the lower elevations, the cool temperatures did not harm growing potato crops, but were a symptom of cooler trends affecting the potato season.
Sid Staunton, co-owner of Staunton Farms in Tulelake, said this season has seen about 15 degrees colder than normal, which could push harvesting back by a week or so.
"We're just not getting a real normal warm pattern," said Staunton.
He said colder weather was better than the heat seen in recent years, which affects the quality and yield of potatoes.
When I lived in central Oregon (high desert area) I was not so far from this reported snow. Over the 15 or so years I lived there I remember snow falling on 4th of July more than once. Taking 2 weeks either side of 4th of July, I remember (accurately or not, I can't say) there being snow at least 1 year out of every 2 or 3 years. For a while, it seemed to alternate snow or no snow every year for several years in a row.
I understand the climate is very likely cooling, and probably headed for more intense weather events on global scales, but this snow event looks pretty routine to me.
'Course it might look very different to me if I was out standing in it. It's easy to be judgemental when not in the thick of things.