Heavy snow fell in the mountains of the northern Idaho panhandle. Eleven inches of snow fell at the Hidden Lake SNOTEL site.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Heavy snow fell in the mountains of the northern Idaho panhandle. Eleven inches of snow fell at the Hidden Lake SNOTEL site.
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 16, 2:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 PM PST MON DEC 16 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A SOMEWHAT MOIST AND SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS FROM A SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL REMAIN THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEAST AND AWAY FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. RIDGING BUILDS IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY FROM THE WEST. .TONIGHT-THURSDAY...ONCE THE CURRENT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEAST AND AWAY FROM THE AREA THERE REALLY IS NOT A SYNOPTIC KICKER CLEARLY VISIBLE ON MODEL GUIDANCE TO MAKE USE OF THE SOMEWHAT MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THUS WILL COVER WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER MOST AREAS VOID OF GOOD OROGRAPHIC LIFTING MECHANISMS...OR VOID OF GOOD SIZED MOUNTAINS WOULD BE ANOTHER WAY OF PUTTING IT. ZONE LOCATIONS WITH MOUNTAINS HAVE GOOD CHANCE POPS FOR SIMILAR REASONING AS THERE ARE OROGRAPHIC LIFTING MECHANISMS AVAILABLE. BULK OF SNOWFALL FOR WINTER STORM WARNING OVER NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS OF WA AND SOME MOUNTAINS IN IDAHO PANHANDLE HAS ALREADY FALLEN BUT THE SOUTHWEST FLOW AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIRMASS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO END...DESPITE THE APPARENT CLEARING TREND ON RADAR AND SATELLITE...SO KEEP IT GOING THROUGH TONIGHT AND MENTION TOTAL OVERALL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS IN THE TONIGHT PERIOD. RIDGING BUILDS IN OVER THE AREA WELL AHEAD OF AN OFFSHORE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THIS SHOULD STABILIZE THE AIRMASS AND THUS LESSENS EVEN FURTHER THE LIMITED CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. GIVEN THE LACK OF MIXING AVBL IN THE ABSENCE OF WEATHER SYSTEMS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF A DECREASING CLOUD COVER SITUATION WHICH COULD ALLOW RADIATIONAL COOLING TO TAKE A BIGGER PART IN TEMPERATURE MODIFICATION THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST TIME PERIOD HAVE FOLLOWED THE COOLING TREND IN DAYTIME HIGHS AND LOWS SUGGESTED BY NUMERICAL GUIDANCE. PELATTI .THURSDAY NIGHT-MONDAY...WITH THE RIDGE SQUEEZED OVER THE INLAND NW FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...STRONG DRY EASTERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP. THIS WILL KEEP MOST AREAS VOID OF PRECIPITATION EXPECT FOR THE BITTERROOT AND CASCADE CREST. THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE HAVING TROUBLE GRASPING THE PATH THE PACIFIC LOW IS GOING TO TAKE...ALTHOUGH IT IS TRENDING FOR A MORE SOUTHERN PATH INTO NRN CA. THIS WILL KEEP THE BULK OF THE OVERRUNNING PCPN AWAY FOR OUR AREA FOR THE TIME BEING. WILL FOCUS ON THE NORTHERN JET STREAM...WHICH IS TENDING TO LOOK MORE ACTIVE BY THE WEEKEND. AN ARCTIC FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SLIDE FROM BC ACROSS ERN WA AND N IDAHO ON SATURDAY. THIS WILL BRING LIGHT SNOW TO MOST LOCALES ALONG WITH COOLER TEMPS AND NORTHERLY WINDS. THIS FRONT EXITS THE AREA BY SUNDAY WHILE A COLD DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE SITS OVER BC INTO MONDAY. NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE WAY OF SNOW EXPECT FOR THE MOUNTAIN AREAS. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW LOW LEVEL INVERSIONS SETTING UP KEEPING THE CLOUD COVER IN PLACE ALONG WITH A FEW FLURRIES AND FOG. RFOX. ...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 031/038/028/034/025/031 222211 COE 031/039/028/034/025/032 322211 PUW 034/040/032/034/028/032 222211 LWS 038/045/033/039/030/037 222211 CQV 033/042/027/036/026/032 833332 SPT 032/042/026/035/024/030 833332 WWP 029/039/024/032/023/029 833332 EAT 034/042/027/038/025/035 222210 MWH 033/044/028/040/026/037 222200 OMK 031/041/026/037/020/030 322221
IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-171430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 130 PM PST MON DEC 16 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO .DAY ONE... TODAY SNOW AND WIND WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO THROUGH THE REST OF TODAY AND THE NIGHT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 20 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE AT AND ABOVE 4500 FEET BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2002
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: 5327353.