A major winter storm moving across the Northwest brought strong winds to far eastern Washington on the morning of December 15 following large accumulations of light powdery snow the evening before. Peak wind gusts of 63 mph from the southwest were measured at the Pullman-Moscow Airport from 430 to 530 AM PST.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
A major winter storm moving across the Northwest brought strong winds to far eastern Washington on the morning of December 15 following large accumulations of light powdery snow the evening before. Peak wind gusts of 63 mph from the southwest were measured at the Pullman-Moscow Airport from 430 to 530 AM PST. At the Nez Perce (Idaho) County Airport near Lewiston, a peak wind gust of 59 mph was measured at 832 AM PST. Spokane International Airport mesured a peak wind gust of 48 mph at 323 AM PST. This caused snow drifts to pile from 3 to 5 feet high along the Highway 195 corridor from Spokane south through the Palouse and into the Snake River Valley. Wind chill values dropped into the zero to ten below range. US Hwy 195 had to be closed from the Pullman bypass to the Idaho border due to hazardous conditions brought on by wind and snow drifts. The wind also caused several trees to fall into power lines, causing sporadic power outages across the Palouse. Winds knocked down portable toilet facilities near the Washington State University Student Learning Center construction site. Half of a modular home in transit south of Pullman was blown over and destroyed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2000
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5165517, 5165518.