Alert archive / Washington / Heavy Snow Warnings in 2008

Heavy Snow Warning 3, NWS Spokane, WA

January 9, 20084 counties in Washington; 4 counties in Idaho

NWS Spokane, WA issued this heavy snow warning at Jan 9, 2008, 2:46 PM PST for 4 counties in Washington; 4 counties in Idaho. It took effect at Jan 9, 2008, 10:00 PM PST. It was in force for 35 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jan 9, 2008, 2:46 PM PST (22:46 UTC)
In effect from: Jan 9, 2008, 10:00 PM PST
Expired: Jan 11, 2008, 9:26 AM PST
In force: 35 hr
Issued by: NWS Spokane, WA

Counties Benewah County, ID, Kootenai County, ID, Latah County, ID, Shoshone County, ID, Douglas County, WA, Ferry County, WA, Grant County, WA, Okanogan County, WA

The radar

The Spokane radar (KOTX), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 114 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 532 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this heavy snow warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this heavy snow warning went out at Jan 9, 2:32 PM PST, 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 9, 2:32 PM PST, 14 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 9, 6:03 AM PST, 8 hours 43 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
603 AM PST WED JAN 9 2008

IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-101500-
NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-
CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWISTON AREA-
LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-
LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-
MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA-
NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-
EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU-
603 AM PST WED JAN 9 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO...
NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL
WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND
SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SOME ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE
MOUNTAINS OF THE IDAHO PANHANDLE...AS WELL AS ALONG THE CASCADE
CREST TODAY.

FOR TONIGHT...ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SNOW INTO CENTRAL
AND EASTERN WASHINGTON. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED OVER THE
EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES...THE UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN...AS WELL
AS THE NORTHEAST WASHINGTON MOUNTAINS BY EARLY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF
WASHINGTON AS WELL AS ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE IDAHO PANHANDLE ON
THURSDAY. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO RAIN OVER THE
PALOUSE...AND UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN THROUGH THE DAY ON THURSDAY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 9, 12:41 PM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 9, 1:54 PM PST, 52 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Spokane, WA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 9, 2:46 PM PST	Snow Advisory	OTX	Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Lincoln, Okanogan and 4 more	30 hr

Nearby

Heavy Snow Warnings in Washington, 2008 Heavy Snow Warnings in Idaho, 2008 Every heavy snow warning in 2008

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.