Alert archive / Idaho / Areal Flood Warnings in 2009

Areal Flood Warning 2, NWS Spokane, WA

January 6, 2009Asotin County, Garfield County, Whitman County, Washington; 4 counties in Idaho

NWS Spokane, WA issued this areal flood warning at Jan 6, 2009, 2:54 PM PST for Asotin County, Garfield County, Whitman County, Washington; 4 counties in Idaho. It was in force for 3 days. 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 6, 2009, 2:54 PM PST (22:54 UTC)
Expired
Jan 9, 2009, 3:00 PM PST
In force
3 days
Issued by
NWS Spokane, WA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

Counties Benewah County, ID, Latah County, ID, Lewis County, ID, Nez Perce County, ID, Asotin County, WA, Garfield County, WA, Whitman County, WA

The radar

The Spokane radar (KOTX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:57 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this areal flood 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 areal flood warning went out at Jan 6, 2:42 PM PST, 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 2:42 PM PST, 12 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 6, 5:40 AM PST, 9 hours 14 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
540 AM PST TUE JAN 6 2009

IDZ003-026-027-WAZ031>035-038-041>044-071345-
IDAHO PALOUSE-LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-
NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-
WASHINGTON PALOUSE-MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-
OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-
OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU-
540 AM PST TUE JAN 6 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL BE AIMED AT THE
AREA THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING BRINGING RISING SNOW LEVELS AND
HEAVY RAINFALL TO PORTIONS OF THE AREA. THIS WILL LEAD TO RAPID
RISES ON SMALL STREAMS DUE TO A COMBINATION OF RAIN AND SNOW MELT.
STRONG WESTERLY FLOW WILL LEAD TO THE HIGHEST PRECIPITATION TOTALS
AND THE MAIN FLOODING POTENTIAL FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE NORTH
WASHINGTON CASCADES...CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS...SPOKANE AND
COEUR DALENE AREAS...AND THE PALOUSE. URBAN FLOODING IS ALSO A
GOOD POSSIBILITY.

IDZ001-002-004-WAZ036-037-071345-
NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-
SPOKANE AREA-NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-
540 AM PST TUE JAN 6 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IS EXPECTED TODAY FOR THE SPOKANE
REGION...NORTH IDAHO...AND NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. THE HEAVIEST
SNOWS WILL FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS ADJACENT TO THE BC BORDER AND
MONTANA. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO RAIN IN THE SPOKANE
AREA BY MIDDAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WILL BE AIMED AT THE
AREA THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING BRINGING RISING SNOW LEVELS AND
HEAVY RAINFALL TO PORTIONS OF THE AREA. THIS WILL LEAD TO RAPID
RISES ON SMALL STREAMS DUE TO A COMBINATION OF RAIN AND SNOW MELT.
STRONG WESTERLY FLOW WILL LEAD TO THE HIGHEST PRECIPITATION TOTALS
AND THE MAIN FLOODING POTENTIAL FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE NORTH
WASHINGTON CASCADES...CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS...SPOKANE AND
COEUR DALENE AREAS...AND THE PALOUSE. URBAN FLOODING IS ALSO A
GOOD POSSIBILITY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 6, 9:06 AM PST, 5 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
906 AM PST TUE JAN 6 2009

IDZ001>004-WAZ033-036-037-061915-
NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-
CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-SPOKANE AREA-
NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SANDPOINT...RATHDRUM...BONNERS FERRY...
PRIEST RIVER...COEUR DALENE...POST FALLS...HAYDEN...MOSCOW...
PLUMMER...POTLATCH...GENESEE...KELLOGG...ST MARIES...PINEHURST...
OSBURN...WALLACE...MULLAN...PULLMAN...COLFAX...ROSALIA...
LA CROSSE...SPOKANE...CHENEY...DAVENPORT...ROCKFORD...COLVILLE...
DEER PARK...CHEWELAH...NEWPORT...KETTLE FALLS
906 AM PST TUE JAN 6 2009

...SNOW LOADING ON ROOF TOPS...FOLLOWED BY THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY
RAIN AND SUBSEQUENT URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING BY MID WEEK...

SNOW LOADING FOR FLAT ROOFS AND LOW SLOPED ROOFS COULD BECOME A
SERIOUS PROBLEM BY THIS EVENING. PRECIPITATION HAS CHANGED FROM
SNOW TO RAIN OVER MOST OF THE SPOKANE AND COEUR DALENE AREA. SNOW
WILL GRADUALLY CHANGE TO RAIN IN THE VALLEYS NORTH AND EAST OF THE
METROPOLITAN AREA...INCLUDING DEER PARK...SANDPOINT...KELLOGG...
AND ST MARIES.

BY EARLY THIS EVENING AN ADDITIONAL QUARTER TO A THIRD OF AN INCH
OF RAIN...OR LIQUID EQUIVALENT...IS LIKELY OVER THE EASTERN THIRD
OF WASHINGTON AND MOST OF THE IDAHO PANHANDLE. ONCE THE RAIN
BEGINS...PERIODS OF RAIN ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO THURSDAY
WITH AS MUCH AS AN INCH AND A HALF OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION IN THE
SPOKANE AREA...AND AMOUNTS POSSIBLY EXCEEDING 2 INCHES IN THE
COEUR DALENE AND PULLMAN AREAS.

THE RAIN WILL INITIALLY MAKE THE SNOW SITTING ON ROOF TOPS HEAVIER.
THE DEEP...HEAVY SNOW COVER HAS CAUSED NUMEROUS ROOF FAILURES IN
THE METROPOLITAN AREA...AND THE PROBLEM OF SNOW LOADING IS GOING
TO GET WORSE DURING THE 24 TO 36 HOURS. OUTSIDE THE SPOKANE
METRO...DEEP SNOW-PACK IS ALSO PREVALENT IN THE CHENEY...DEER
PARK...DAVENPORT...BONNERS FERRY...SANDPOINT...AND KELLOGG AREAS.

ACCORDING TO THE CITY OF SPOKANE...STRUCTURES WITH FLAT ROOFS
WILL BE THE MOST PRONE TO HEAVY SNOW LOADING. THE ROOF DRAINS ON
FLAT OR LOW-SLOPE BUILDINGS ARE EASILY BLOCKED BY ICE...AND MAY
NOT DRAIN PROPERLY. THE ADDITION OF RAIN ONTO SNOW CAN BE
ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC FOR FLAT ROOFS BECAUSE SNOW CAN ABSORB THE
RAIN...INCREASING THE LOAD ON THE STRUCTURE. FOR MORE INFORMATION
ON SNOW LOADING IN SPOKANE VISIT WWW.SPOKANECITY.ORG AND CLICK ON
PREVENT ROOF COLLAPSE...AND...CITIZENS URGED TO CLEAR
HYDRANTS... SIDEWALKS.

URBAN STREET FLOODING WILL ALSO BECOME A MAJOR CONCERN BY TUESDAY
EVENING. MOST SEWER DRAINS IN THE METRO AREA ARE BURIED UNDER
SNOW. IF STORM DRAINS REMAIN CLOGGED WITH SNOW...STREET FLOODING
WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY.
Local storm report, Jan 6, 11:44 AM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 6, 11:48 AM PST, 3 hours 6 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 6, 11:50 AM PST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 5, 4:08 PM PSTFlood WatchOTXAsotin, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and 1 more22 hr
Jan 6, 11:00 AM PSTWinter Storm WarningOTXPend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens19 hr
Jan 6, 2:34 PM PSTAreal Flood WarningOTXSpokane71 hr
Jan 6, 2:46 PM PSTAreal Flood AdvisoryOTXPend Oreille, Stevens47 hr

Nearby

Areal Flood Warnings in Idaho, 2009Areal Flood Warnings in Washington, 2009Every areal flood warning in 2009

Sources

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