A warm front lifting across the area in advance of a moist Pacific storm system brought heavy snow to parts of eastern Washington on the night of December 12 and early on the morning of the 13th. 4".
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 warm front lifting across the area in advance of a moist Pacific storm system brought heavy snow to parts of eastern Washington on the night of December 12 and early on the morning of the 13th. The following is a listing of the heavy snowfall totals: Moses Mountain SNOTEL site (elev 5300')...9.1", Mount Spokane Ski Area...8", Clayton...7", Tonasket...6", Chesaw...6", Oroville...6", Spokane Airport...5.7", Republic...5.3", Springdale...5", Omak...5", Keller...5", Boundary Dam...5", Spokane South Hill...4.5", Colville...4.5", Deer Park...4.3", Look Lake...4", Gifford...4", and Ione...4".
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Dec 12, 2:00 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
200 PM PST WED DEC 12 2001
TWO MAJOR WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE AREA
THROUGH FRIDAY. MODEL STILL HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON FIRST SYSTEM MAKING
ITS WAY THROUGH WASHINGTON. RADAR IS FILLING IN NICELY WITH RETURNS
AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS ARE REPORTING SNOW....HOWEVER SOME OF THE
MODELS WANT TO CHANGE TO RAIN EARLIER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...MORE LIKE
1 OR 2 AM VERSUS 4 TO 5 AM THURSDAY MORNING. JUDGING FROM PREVIOUS
MASSIVE WARM AIR ADVECTION EVENTS THAT OCCURRED EARLIER IN THE MONTH
HAVE DECIDED TO HEDGE TOWARD THE LATER CHANGEOVER TO ALL RAIN TOWARDS
THE 4 TO 5 AM THURSDAY MORNING TIME PERIOD AS FAR AS AREAS ABOVE 2000
FEET AND BELOW 3000 FEET. USED A 15 TO 1 RATION TO COME UP WITH SNOW
AMOUNTS. THEIR IS NOW A SECOND SYSTEM PROGGED TO MOVE THROUGH
WASHINGTON...YESTERDAYS MODEL RUNS HAD IT MOVING THROUGH OREGON. THIS
HAS SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED THE FORECAST FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND
FRIDAY...ENOUGH SO TO THROW UP A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SOME OF THE
MOUNTAIN ZONES OF EASTERN WASHINGTON AND THE NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE
WITH THE SNOW LEVELS A BIT HIGHER THAN THE FIRST SYSTEM. FRIDAY NIGHT
APPEARS THE DRIEST...AND WITH A RIDGE OVER THE AREA AND THE WINDS
FROM THE SECOND SYSTEM EXPECTED TO MIX THINGS A BIT HAVE DECIDED TO
GO WITH THE COLD GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND THE LOW
POPS. SATURDAYS LOW DAYTIME HIGHS ARE A DIRECT RESULT OF THE COLD
LOWS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER SYSTEM COMES IN DURING THE
EXTENDED PERIOD AND HAVE HINTED AT ITS ARRIVAL WITH SOME SLIGHT
INCREASE IN POPS FOR SATURDAY DURING THE DAY.
EXTENDED...AFTER THE COLD AIR MOVES IN ON SATURDAY ANOTHER PACIFIC
SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA. GOOD SET UP FOR MORE OVERRUNNING
SNOWFALL SATURDAY NIGHT SO WILL ADD THIS PERIOD TO A FEW OF THE
ZONES. AT THIS TIME ALL MODELS SUGGEST A CHANGE OVER TO RAIN FOR THE
LOWER ELEVATIONS ON SUNDAY. WARM WESTERLY FLOW CONTINUES ON MONDAY
MORNING BUT THEN THE COLD FRONT COMES THROUGH DURING THE DAY. RIDGE
IN THE EAST PACIFIC BUILDS ONCE AGAIN FOR A RETURN TO COLD
NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WITH A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW FOR TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. RJ
...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS
IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND
FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS...
GEG 028/036/030/035/017/022 +88812
COE 028/035/030/035/015/021 +88812
PUW 029/037/031/036/014/020 +88812
LWS 033/044/034/041/022/028 +88812
CQV 029/036/030/037/012/020 +98812
SPT 029/033/029/035/015/022 9+8822
WWP 027/032/027/033/013/021 9+8822
EAT 028/037/030/037/020/028 868412
MWH 031/040/032/041/017/024 968412
.OTX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW TONIGHT WA ZONE 31 42 43.
...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR
WA ZONE 33 36 37 38 AND ID ZONES 2 3.
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY ID ZONES 1 4.
...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING
ABOVE 4000 FEET WA ZONES 37 38 ID ZONES 1 4.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2001
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: 5273841, 5273842, 5273843, 5273844.