Two separate weather systems brought heavy snow to parts of the northern Idaho panhandle on January 19 and 20. Snow levels rose above the valley floors on the 20th, though mountain locations received their heaviest snowfall amounts on the 20th.
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.
Two separate weather systems brought heavy snow to parts of the northern Idaho panhandle on January 19 and 20. Snow levels rose above the valley floors on the 20th, though mountain locations received their heaviest snowfall amounts on the 20th. The following are two-day snowfall totals (SNOTEL amounts are estimated): Bear Mountain SNOTEL...34", Mosquito Ridge SNOTEL...20", Schweitzer SNOTEL...14", Schweitzer Ski Area...12", Sandpoint...9.5", and Priest River...6.8".
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 Jan 18, 8:40 PM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
840 PM PST FRI JAN 18 2002
FCST CHALLENGE OVERNIGHT WL BE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...WITH NO
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO CURRENT SUITE OF ADVISORIES...WARNING AND
WATCHES.
SPEED MAX AND ASSOCIATED DIGGING VORT JUST OFF THE PAC NW COAST...
WITH AVN DOING A DECENT JOB ON ITS INITIALIZATION. THIS WAVE FCST TO
TRACK SEWD INTO ORE OVERNIGHT...WITH MUCH OF ERN WA/N ID ON THE
FAVORED LEFT OF THE HT FALL CENTER. CANOPY OF LIGHT SNOW OVERTAKING
PRETTY MUCH ALL OF MY CWA...WITH LOW-LEVEL WAA/ISENTROPIC ASCENT AND
JET LEVEL DIVERGENCE...BUT SO FAR ONLY TRACE AMTS FOR LIQUID
EQUIVALENTS. INITIAL CONCERN WAS WITH THE OBVIOUS LACK OF AVAILABLE
AMNTS OF WATER VAPOR (MOISTURE)...WITH 00Z RAOB PLOTS SHOWING NO
MORE THAN ABOUT 0.6 PWAT ALONG THE COAST. THE 12Z-18Z MODEL RUNS WERE
OVERDOING THIS AND CRANKING OUT QUITE A BIT OF PRECIP. INSPECTION OF
THE IR LOOP DID NOT QUITE INDICATE SUCH A VICIOUS STORM. THE 00Z
ETA/AVN ARE NOW GENERALLY DRIER WITH THE AMNT OF PRECIP THAT IS
EXPECTED TO FALL OVERNIGHT AND INTO SAT. ETA WAS QUITE A BIT TOO SLOW
ON THE EWD EXTENT OF THE INITIAL FIELD OF LIGHT SNOW...BUT 00Z THE
RUN HAS TRIED TO DO SOME CATCHING UP. NOW...MUCH OF THE PRECIP IS
FCST TO BEGIN TO DECREASE OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF ERN WA JUST
AFTER 12Z. A BIG PART OF THE FORCING FOR THE DEEPEST AND STRONGEST
ASCENT IS FCST TO DIG MAINLY S OF MY CWA...INTO ORE THRU 12Z WITH
THIS OPEN WAVE. THUS...QPF AMNTS BY MODELS DO NOT INDICATE
WIDE-SPREAD WARNING ACCUMULATIONS FOR THE SPOKANE AREA...GIVEN A
TYPICAL 10 TO 1 RATIO. HOWEVER...VERTICAL TEMP PROFILES FAVOR A RATIO
CLOSER TO A POWDERY 20 TO 1...WHICH WL LIKELY YIELD WARNING AMNTS.
FLUFFY SNOW CURRENTLY FALLING ON THE BUICK IN THE PACKING LOT
SUPPORTS AND CONFIRMS THIS. N ID AND NE WA MTN ZONES WL CERTAINLY SEE
THE LARGEST ACCUMULATIONS...WITH A SIGNIFICANT WLY COMP TO THE FLOW
PROMOTING LEE PRECIP SHADOWING THE W BASIN ZONES.
PRECIP MAY INITIALLY FALL AS LIQUID IN THE L-C VALLEY THIS EVENING...
WITH SFC TEMPS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. HOWEVER THIS SHOULD TURN TO
SNOW RATHER QUICKLY AS THE LOWER TROP SATURATES AND COOLS
DIABATICALLY. SOUNDINGS SUPPORT THIS.
...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 025/035/026/037/029/036 +93977
COE 025/034/026/035/029/035 +95977
PUW 026/034/026/036/029/036 +94944
LWS 031/041/031/042/034/043 982844
CQV 022/034/026/036/029/036 +74977
SPT 024/033/027/034/028/034 +86977
WWP 024/031/026/033/027/033 ++8+77
EAT 026/043/030/044/029/039 715733
MWH 027/042/030/045/030/038 834734
.KOTX...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY FOR ID ZONES 1
AND 4 AND WA ZN 37...
...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND SATURDAY FOR ID ZNS 2 AND 3
AND WA ZNS 33 AND 36...
...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND SATURDAY FOR WA ZNS 31 AND 38...
...SNOW ADVISORY SATURDAY FOR ID ZN 27...
...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SUNDAY FOR ID ZN 27 AND WA ZNS 31 AND
42...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, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5279146.