Heavy Snow in Washington, December 5 to 6, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Washington, December 5 to 6, 2001
Start: 2001-12-05T22:00
End: 2001-12-06T10:00
Location: Washington

December 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS OTX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Where it happened

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.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 low pressure system moving across British Columbia brought heavy snow to the northeast Blue Mountains and to the northeast mountains of Washington on the morning of December 6 followed by snow showers continuing through the day. The following are snowfall totals associated with this storm: the nearby Bluewood Ski Area...13", Spruce Springs SNOTEL (elev 4700' in Blue Mtns)...10.3", Newport...4.3", and Deer Park...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 5, 8:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 5, 8:50 PM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
850 PM PST WED DEC 5 2001

A 983 MB LOW IS NOW MAKING LANDFALL OVER THE QUEEN CHARLOTTES AND
WILL MOVE INLAND OVERNIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE FILLING AND OCCLUDING
AS IT MOVES INLAND...AND MANY DYNAMIC INDICATORS ARE NOT THAT
IMPRESSIVE WITH THIS SYSTEM. HOWEVER...THE STRENGTH OF 850-700 MB
WARM ADVECTION AND ISENTROPIC LIFT IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE...ESPECIALLY
AS WE TRANSITION FROM THE COOL NORTHWESTERLY FLOW OF THE PAST FEW
DAYS TO MILDER WESTERLY FLOW. RADAR ECHOES ARE ALREADY SEEN
APPROACHING THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA...AND
PRECIP WILL ONLY SPREAD FURTHER EAST. WITH ONE EXCEPTION DESCRIBED IN
THE NEXT PARAGRAPH...BELIEVE THE MAJOR POINTS OF THE AFTERNOON
FORECAST ARE STILL IN GOOD SHAPE...SO HAVE MAINLY BUMPED UP FIRST
PERIOD POPS AND MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO MIN TEMPS TONIGHT. BEHIND
THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS...SOMEWHAT COLDER AIR ALOFT WILL MOVE IN AND
MAXIMIZE LAPSE RATES OVER THE PANHANDLE LATE THU AFTN. WITH STIFF
WESTERLY FLOW (850 MB WINDS OF 40-50 KTS CUTTING ACROSS THE
BASIN)...OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT HEFTY PRECIP
AMOUNTS INTO THU NIGHT WHILE NICELY SHADOWING THE BASIN AND LOWER
EAST SLOPES. UPPER LEVEL HEIGHTS START TO RISE QUICKLY BY LATE
EVENING...SO SHOWERS SHOULD SUBSIDE THROUGH THE REST OF THE NIGHT.

ONE CONCERN IS THAT THE CAMAS PRAIRIE SE OF LEWISTON MAY SEE
RESPECTABLE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. THE NEW 00Z AVN SHOWS 850-700 MB FLOW
TAKING ON A FAVORABLE NORTHERLY COMPONENT ON THU EVNG WHEN LAPSE
RATES ARE STILL STEEP. BY THIS TIME...SNOW LEVELS WILL BE AROUND
3000-4000 FEET...SO CONCERN IS MAINLY FOR THE TOP OF THE PLATEAU. OF
COURSE...THIS WILL BE ON TOP OF WHATEVER THEY GET IN THE WARM
ADVECTION PRECIP TONIGHT AND THU MORNING. WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY FOR ID ZN 27 FOR THU AND THU EVNG. ALL OTHER HIGHLIGHTS WILL
REMAIN THE SAME.    HANER

...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 026/038/030/039/031/039 994334
COE 027/036/026/036/029/038 995334
PUW 029/039/030/040/030/040 994334
LWS 034/045/036/049/038/049 874322
CQV 025/039/029/040/030/040 895334
SPT 028/034/028/037/029/038 896655
WWP 026/034/027/036/029/037 897755
EAT 033/039/032/040/031/039 +63222
MWH 034/041/032/041/031/040 +63322

.OTX...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR WA ZONE 31 TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.
    ...WINTER STORM WARNING SNOW IDAHO ZONE 4 TONIGHT THROUGH
       THURSDAY NIGHT.
    ...WINTER STORM WARNING ID ZONE 1 AND WA ZONES 37 38 LATE TONIGHT
       THROUGH THURSDAY.
    ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW ID ZONES 2 3 27 AND WA ZONES
       33 36 FOR LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, S Garfield/Sw Asotin

When: December 5, 10:00 PM PST to December 6, 10:00 AM PST
Where: S Garfield/Sw Asotin forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 46.312, -117.374 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Stevens/Pend Oreille/X N Spokane

When: December 5, 10:00 PM PST to December 6, 10:00 AM 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: 5273833, 5273834.