A strong low pressure system moving across southern British Columbia brought a cold front across eastern Washington from late evening on October 22 through the early morning of October 23. High wind immediately followed the frontal passage.
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.
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 strong low pressure system moving across southern British Columbia brought a cold front across eastern Washington from late evening on October 22 through the early morning of October 23. High wind immediately followed the frontal passage. Wind equipment at Priest Rapids Dam measured a wind gust to 83 mph. A weather spotter in Clarkston reported a wind gust of 60 mph at 145 AM PDT, and the Alder Ridge RAWS site in the northeast Blue Mountains (elevation 4500 feet) measured a wind gust to 75 miles an hour at 300 AM PDT. Most other parts of eastern Washington measured wind gusts of 40 to 50 miles an hour both at the time of the frontal passage and later on the afternoon of the 23rd.
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 Oct 22, 7:10 PM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 810 PM PDT MON OCT 22 2001 WILL UPDATE SFP AROUND 9 PM OR SO TO REFRESH SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR EASTERN WASHINGTON...WILL ALSO UPDATE ZONES TO REWORK SOME OF THE POPS FOR TODAY. LATEST 00Z KOTX UPPER AIR PROFILE NOT AT ALL REPRESENTATIVE OF CURRENT COOLER AIRMASS OVER AREA AS WARM FRONTAL ZONE WAS MOVING OVER THE AREA WHEN UPPER AIR RUN WAS TAKEN. THAT WARM CLOUD SHIELD HAS ALREADY BLOWN BY AND IS MOVING THROUGH MONTANA AS OF 02Z. EXPECT THE AIRMASS TO BECOME MORE LIKE THAT OVER KUIL AT 00Z IN WHICH SIGNIFICANT COOLER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA...ENOUGH TO KEEP SHOWERY WORDING IN SOME PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH ZERO POPS IN OTHERS NEAR THE RAIN SHADOW OF THE CASCADES. WINDS SHOULD ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE WITH INCREASING NORTH TO SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO...COURTESY OF THE SURFACE LOW PASSING THROUGH SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA. NO CHANGE TO OUR FORECAST AREA HIGHLIGHTS IN UPDATES BUT WILL UPDATE SFP FOR ERN WASHINGTON TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGE IN ADJACENT OFFICE HIGHTLIGHTS. ...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 034/051/028/044/032/047 42-560 COE 036/046/029/043/032/045 551560 PUW 033/049/028/046/033/049 43-440 LWS 041/054/035/050/038/053 44-330 CQV 036/055/027/043/027/049 44-770 SPT 036/045/029/042/028/044 651771 WWP 034/043/029/044/030/044 883582 EAT 040/059/033/048/035/052 301640 MWH 039/059/033/050/034/055 301540 .OTX... WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS. HIGH WIND WARNING LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR WATERVILLE PLATEAU...MOSES LAKE...UPPER BASIN...PALOUSE...AND LEWISTON/CLARKSTON AREA. WIND ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR THE WENATCHEE AND THE SPOKANE/COEUR DALENE AREAS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. 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, October 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: 5270064, 5270065, 5270133.