Heavy snow fell over the central and northern Idaho panhandle starting the day after Christmas. 3".
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.
Heavy snow fell over the central and northern Idaho panhandle starting the day after Christmas. Snowfall totals include: Silver Mountain Ski Area...12", Lookout Pass Ski Area...12", Schweitzer Ski Area...10", Bonners Ferry...8", Rathdrum...7.5", Priest River...6.5", and Sandpoint...5.3".
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 26, 9:25 AM PST, 35 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
925 AM PST THU DEC 26 2002
.SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF MOIST PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL CROSS THE
REGION THROUGH THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY SNOW
AND RAIN. THE STRONGEST SYSTEM WILL PASS THROUGH LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
FRIDAY. IN ADDITION TO PRECIPITATION WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
OVER THE COLUMBIA BASIN ON FRIDAY.
.DISCUSSION...
.TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY...THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF WEATHER SYSTEMS IS
CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE ID PANHANDLE AS IT WEAKENS AND STRETCHES
OUT. ADVISORY HIGHLIGHTS HAVE WORKED OUT WELL WITH MANY LOCATIONS
AROUND SPOKANE REPORTING 2-3 INCHES OF SNOW WITH ISOLATED 4-5 INCH
AMOUNTS IN THE SNOW BELT NORTH OF TOWN AND NEAR COEUR DALENE. RADAR
CONTINUES TO INDICATE PRECIP IN THE UPSLOPE REGIONS OF THE ID
PANHANDLE AND FAR ERN WA...BUT THIS SHOULD BE DECREASING FOR THE REST
OF THE DAY AS THE LOW-MID LEVEL WESTERLY FLOW WEAKENS AND STARTS TO
BACK AROUND TO A MORE SOUTHERLY DIRECTION. LOWER ELEVATIONS ARE
ALREADY CHANGING TO RAIN...SO DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO UPGRADE TO
WARNINGS FOR THE CURRENT ROUND OF PRECIP. WILL LET THE CURRENT ROUND
OF ADVISORIES CONTINUE UNTIL THE SNOW HAS NEARLY ENDED...PROBABLY
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY NICELY SHOWS THE NEXT TWO SYSTEMS THAT WILL
IMPACT THE INLAND NORTHWEST CURRENTLY BETWEEN THE COAST AND 160W.
WILL TRY TO MAKE SOME DECISIONS ON WHETHER TO UPGRADE THE CURRENT
ROUND OF WINTER STORM WATCHES TO WARNINGS AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME THAT
THIS MORNINGS ADVISORIES END. FRIDAYS SYSTEM LOOKS WINDY...BUT THE
PATTERN AS WELL AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT STRENGTH/ORIENTATION DO NOT
SUGGEST A WARNING CRITERIA WIND EVENT IN OUR FORECAST AREA.
HOWEVER...MISSION RIDGE NEAR WENATCHEE (A NOTORIOUSLY WINDY SPOT
ANYWAY AT 6700 FEET MSL) COULD SEE GUSTS OF 80-90 MPH OR MORE ON FRI
MORNING. 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 036/030/037/030/036 76755
COE 036/030/037/030/037 96855
PUW 038/029/038/034/040 75655
LWS 043/036/045/034/044 54555
CQV 035/029/034/028/036 76956
SPT 033/028/033/028/035 96966
WWP 033/027/031/028/035 +6866
EAT 037/033/039/029/036 35633
MWH 039/032/041/030/039 33533
OMK 037/031/035/025/034 33755
.OTX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW THIS MORNING WAZ036 AND
IDZ002 (SPOKANE/CDA AREA)
...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY FOR VALLEYS OF IDZ004 CENTRAL PANHANDLE
MOUNTAINS MAINLY NORTH PART.
...SNOW ADVISORY THIS MORNING IDZ001 AND WAZ037 (N PANHANDLE AND
NE WASHINGTON MOUNTAINS).
...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR WAZ042 (EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES)
...WINTER STORM WATCH WAZ037, WAZ038, IDZ001 LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
FRIDAY AND IDZ004 DURING DAY FRIDAY (NORTHERN WASHINGTON
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
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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: 5327354, 5327355, 5327356.