Heavy Snow, S Nez Perce/Lewis Counties
- When
- March 24, 2:00 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
- Where
- S Nez Perce/Lewis Counties forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 46.282, -116.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 24, 2002
Heavy snow fell on the Camas Prairie generally above 3000 feet. 6 inches of snow with this storm.
Where it happened
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Heavy snow fell on the Camas Prairie generally above 3000 feet. Winchester received 6.6 inches of snow with this storm.
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 Mar 23, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 8:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 830 PM PST SAT MAR 23 2002 FOR THE OVERNIGHT...THE MAIN FEATURE CONTINUES TO BE A DEFORMATION AXIS BETWEEN COMPLEX NEGATIVE TILT TROUGH AND NORTH IDAHO RIDGE FOCUSES AREAS OF RAIN AND HIGH MOUNTAIN SNOW ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TIER OF WASHINGTON INTO THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS. 00Z ETA HAS GREATLY INCREASED PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ACROSS THE LEWISTON AREA THROUGH THE CAMAS PRAIRIE...HOWEVER SOME OF THE RAIN IS STILL NOT REACHING THE GROUND. THEREFORE WIDESPREAD COVERAGE OVER THE NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS LOOKS BEST. ETA FORECAST SOUNDINGS IMPLY WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS BECOMING PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO 4000 FEET LATE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST FORECAST ZONES...HOWEVER REGIONAL OBSERVATIONS REPRESENTING SEVERAL ELEVATIONS ARE IMPLYING THE TEMPERATURE LAPSE RATES BETWEEN 4000 AND 7000 FEET SEEM TO BE CLOSER TO ISOTHERMAL THAN MOIST ADIABATIC. THEREFORE...AREAS OF COLD RAIN APPEAR THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO FOR THE CAMAS PRAIRIE EVEN ACKNOWLEDGING THE EVENING COOPERATIVE REPORT FROM WINCHESTER WITH 34 DEGREES. THE EARLY EVENING SOUNDING INDICATED WINDS VEERING FROM WEST TO NORTH UP TO 700 MB...THEN NOT BECOMING ESTABLISHED TO SOUTHERLY FLOW UNTIL AROUND 400 MB. PART OF THE MID-LEVEL CONFUSION IN THE WINDS IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST DISTRICT MAY BE THE RESULT OF A LITTLE CYCLONIC TURNING AT 700 MB...AS SEEN IN EVENING RADIAL VELOCITY SCANS. THIS FEATURE MOST CLOSELY RESEMBLES AN 700 MB VORTMAX DEPICTED BY THE AVN MODEL IN THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE. THIS FEATURE APPEARS TO BE A BIT FURTHER NORTH AND WEST AND HAS BEEN KEEPING ISOLATED SHOWERS NORTH OF REPUBLIC AS WELL AS NEWLY-DEVELOPED SHOWERS NORTHWEST OF BONNERS FERRY. AS THE UPPER RIDGE BUILDS...THIS CYCLONIC SYSTEM SHOULD BE GRADUALLY BUMPED NORTH AND WEST INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA...AND AT THE MOST MAY BE SOURCE FOR A FEW SPRINKLES OR MOUNTAIN FLURRIES NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER. A PATCHES OF LIGHT PRECIPITATION ARE SNEAKING THROUGH EASTERN LATAH COUNTY...AND WILL CONSIDER ISOLATED SHOWER WORDING THROUGHOUT THE IDAHO PANHANDLE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE SYSTEMS NORTH AND SOUTH. AND FINALLY...A LOCAL WETTING OF 0.30 INCHES AT DEER PARK THIS MORNING HAS LEFT THE GROUND MOIST AND DEW POINTS A BIT HIGHER THAN SURROUNDING TERRAIN THIS EVENING. WHILE THE DEW POINTS SHOULD COME MORE IN LINE WITH NEIGHBORING SPOKANE OVERNIGHT...THE PROGNOSIS FOR LOCAL FOG LOOKS GOOD. WILL UPDATE THE NORTHEAST WASHINGTON ZONE GROUPING TO REMOVE EVENING WORDING AND MENTION PATCHY VALLEY FOG...ALTHOUGH IT WILL MAINLY BE FOR THE NORTHEAST WASHINGTON MOUNTAINS. NO CHANGES TO SFP. JR ...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 033/049/033/050/032/052 112210 COE 032/048/032/049/032/050 112210 PUW 034/047/033/048/032/050 332200 LWS 037/051/037/053/035/056 433200 CQV 030/055/030/056/032/058 312320 SPT 031/047/032/048/033/050 113321 WWP 030/046/031/047/031/049 113321 EAT 036/055/036/056/035/057 221100 MWH 035/056/034/057/032/058 332100
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Rip Current in Florida, March 24, 2002
- Winter Storm in Ohio, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Wildfire in New Mexico, March 24 to 26, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Tornado in Hawaii, March 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Winter Storm in Kansas, March 24, 2002
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 24 to 25, 2002
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 24, 2002
- High Wind in California, March 24, 2002
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2002
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: 5287355.