Heavy Snow in Washington, December 4, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, December 4, 2001
Start: 2001-12-04T06:00
End: 2001-12-04T12:00
Location: Washington

December 4, 2001 · NWS OTX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A warm front moved across eastern Washington in advance of an upper trough on the morning of December 4, bringing heavy snow to the northeast mountains, the Spokane area and the Palouse. 5".

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.

A warm front moved across eastern Washington in advance of an upper trough on the morning of December 4, bringing heavy snow to the northeast mountains, the Spokane area and the Palouse. The following is a roundup of snowfall totals: 49-North Ski Area...8", Mount Spokane Ski Area...8", Springdale...7", Deer Park...6", Chewelah...4.5", 2 N Spokane...4", Pullman...4", Newport...4", and Oakesdale...3.5".

What forecasters said that day

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 4, 2:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 2:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
230 AM PST TUE DEC 4 2001

AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS MOVING ONTO THE WASHINGTON COAST AT THIS
TIME. WEAK WARM ADVECTION OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON/NORTH IDAHO IS
SPREADING CLOUDS OVER THE AREA THIS MORNING ALONG WITH UPSLOPE FLOW
WHICH IS BRINGING SOME LIGHT SNOW TO THE SPOKANE AREA EASTWARD. THIS
TROUGH WILL MOVE INLAND THIS MORNING...BUT WILL BE A QUICK SHOT WITH
ONLY LIMITED MOISTURE SO SNOWFALL TOTALS SHOULD BE LIGHT. UPPER LEVEL
FLOW REMAINS WESTERLY SO LITTLE PRECIPITATION...IF ANY...EXPECTED
ACROSS THE CASCADE EAST SLOPES AND THE COLUMBIA BASIN. THE COLD FRONT
SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WHICH SHOULD TURN THE
STEADY SNOW TO SHOWERS WITH SOME PARTIAL CLEARING OVERNIGHT. WEAK
RIDGING BUILDS OVER THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM
WHICH ARRIVES ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS A BIT STRONGER
THAN THE CURRENT SYSTEM AND EXPECT HIGHER SNOWFALL TOTALS WITH IT
ALONG WITH WINDY CONDITIONS. CC

.EXTENDED...THREE DAYS IN A ROW NOW THE MRF HAS BEEN ADVERTISING A
RIDGE FOR THE START OF THE WEEKEND.  THE LATEST AVN SUPPORTS THIS BUT
IS A LITTLE FASTER IN BUILDING THE RIDGE.  WITH THIS CONTINUED
SUPPORT OF A RIDGE AND A SHORT DRY SPELL HAVE INTRODUCED PARTLY
CLOUDY FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.  THE NEXT WAVE WILL BE SATURDAY NIGHT
INTO SUNDAY SO ITS BACK TO A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ON SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. LH

...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 034/025/033/031/036 86577
COE 034/026/034/032/035 86577
PUW 033/026/034/031/036 86577
LWS 040/034/041/038/044 76476
CQV 036/026/038/033/039 85577
SPT 032/025/032/030/034 86577
WWP 032/025/031/029/034 87577
EAT 038/028/037/033/040 33576
MWH 040/027/038/033/041 54576

.OTX...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Whitman & Extreme Se Spokane

When: December 4, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Whitman & Extreme Se Spokane forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.261, -117.463 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ne Lincoln/Spokane X Extreme N Part

When: December 4, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Ne Lincoln/Spokane X Extreme N Part forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.599, -117.911 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Stevens/Pend Oreille/X N Spokane

When: December 4, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Stevens/Pend Oreille/X N Spokane forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 48.184, -117.511 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, December 2001

Sources

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: 5273771, 5273772, 5273828.