Winter Storm in Washington, January 19 to 20, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Washington, January 19 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-01-19T04:00
End: 2002-01-20T20:00
Location: Washington

January 19 to 20, 2002 · NWS OTX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Strong, moist westerly flow brought heavy snow near the Cascade crest during this two-day period. On the 20th, strong winds from aloft mixed down to the surface and brought high winds.

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.

Strong, moist westerly flow brought heavy snow near the Cascade crest during this two-day period. On the 20th, strong winds from aloft mixed down to the surface and brought high winds. The avalanche sensor at the top of Chair 2 at the Mission Ridge Ski Area (elevation 6740 feet) measured sustained winds of 50-60 mph from 5 AM to 5 PM on January 20 with a top wind gust to 103 mph measured at noon. Such strong winds blew trees over into the ski runs at Mission Ridge, and the winds forced the closure of ski operations at both Mission Ridge and Stevens Pass for a large part of the day on what would normally have been a busy holiday weekend. In addition, the avalanche sensor at Tumwater Mountain (near Leavenworth) measured a top wind gust to 43 mph at 1 PM on the 20th. Snowfall totals with this storm include: Stevens Pass Ski Area...22", Miners Ridge SNOTEL...21", Lyman Lake SNOTEL...21", Stevens Pass SNOTEL...19", Park Creek Ridge SNOTEL...17", Harts Pass SNOTEL...15", and Mazama...12.3".

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 Jan 19, 2:30 AM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 19, 2:30 AM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
230 AM PST SAT JAN 19 2002

ACTIVE WINTER WEATHER FOR THE INLAND NW. ONE SNOW SYSTEM WILL BE
EXITING THE INLAND NW TODAY...WHILE A SECOND SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SNOW
TO THE EAST SLOPES BY LATE TONIGHT AND REST OF ERN WA AND N IDAHO ON
SUNDAY. UNSETTLED AND SNOWY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH EARLY
NEXT WEEK.

FOR TODAY...WIDESPREAD SNOW HAS BEEN FALLING FOR THE PAST 5 HOURS
ACROSS MUCH OF NE WA AND THE ID PANHANDLE WITH WEAK ISENTROPIC LIFT
AHEAD OF THE WAVE OFF THE WA/OR COAST. PWATS OF 0.3 AND TEMPS AROUND
30 ARE PRODUCING HIGH SNOW RATIOS WITH LIGHT AND POWDERY SNOW.
ALREADY 2-3 INCHES HAS ACCUMULATED AT THE SPOKANE OFFICE.
NONETHELESS...WARM AIR IS MIXING TO THE LOW LEVELS AND SURFACE TEMPS
HAVE BEEN RISING IN THE PAST 2 HOURS LEADING TO A WETTER-SLOPPY
SNOW...ESPECIALLY FROM AROUND I-90 SOUTH. ACCORDING TO SATELLITE AND
RADAR...THE TROF AXIS IS SLIPPING ACROSS THE CASCADES WITH A SLIGHT
NEGATIVE TILT AS THE SHORTWAVE DROPS FURTHER SOUTH INTO OREGON.
EXPECT THE SNOW TO SWITCH TO SHOWERS THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS ACROSS
ERN WA AND FINALLY REACHING N ID AFTER MIDDAY. WESTERLY FLOW AND CAA
WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON...CUTTING OFF ANY
ADDITIONAL PRECIPITATION FROM THE EAST SLOPES TO THE CENTRAL BASIN
BUT ENHANCING THE OROGRAPHIC SHOWERS IN THE PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS.
BREEZY WINDS WILL PICK UP THIS AFTERNOON. THE SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF
THIS EVENING. WILL CONTINUE WITH THE CURRENT HEADLINES THROUGH THE
DAY.

FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY...THE SECOND SYSTEM IS RACING ACROSS THE
PACIFIC WITH ITS MOISTURE PLUME ALREADY AT 145W. THE PWATS APPEAR TO
BE JUICIER ATTM...BUT MODELS ALSO SHOW A SHEERING APART OF THE
MOISTURE PLUME AS IT ARRIVES TO THE AREA...SIMILAR TO THE CURRENT
SYSTEM. ONE DIFFERENCE WITH THE SECOND SYSTEM WILL BE WARMER TEMPS.
STRONG WAA WILL ALLOW FOR THE CHANGE OVER FROM SNOW TO RAIN IN THE
LOWER ELEVATIONS...WITH A HEALTHY SNOW EVENT FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 3K
FT. STRONG WESTERLY FLOW WILL ENHANCE THE SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NE
WA AND N IDAHO...ALONG WITH GOOD SLOP OVER THE CASCADE CREST. WINTER
STORM WATCHES/WARNINGS ARE POSTED FOR THIS EVENT AS WELL. THE JET
DRIVING THIS SYSTEM WILL SLOWLY SAG FROM NW TO SE ACROSS THE FORECAST
AREA SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF THE
PRECIPITATION TO SHOWERS OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. RFOX

EXTENDED...FIRST TWO DAYS LOOK PROMISING FOR SOME PRECIPITATION
ACROSS THE DISTRICT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. OUR WEST
NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRING IN MORE MOISTURE WITH LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEMS EACH DAY. DURING THE LAST TWO DAYS OF THE
EXTENDED...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TRIES TO BUILD ACROSS THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THE RIDGE WILL NOT KEEP US
COMPLETELY DRY AS SOME MOISTURE WILL MAKE IT UNDER THIS RIDGE.
THEREFORE WE WILL KEEP A CHANCE OR SLIGHT CHANCE WORDING IN FOR
PRECIP ON THESE TWO DAYS IN THE ZFP.   TJC

...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 035/026/037/029/036 +3977
COE 034/026/035/028/035 +5977
PUW 034/025/036/029/035 +4966
LWS 041/031/043/034/042 73844
CQV 034/026/036/029/036 +6977
SPT 033/027/034/028/034 +6977
WWP 031/026/033/027/033 +8+77
EAT 040/030/042/029/039 15733
MWH 041/029/045/030/038 34734

.KOTX...WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY FOR ID
        ZONES 1 AND 4 AND WA ZN 37...
     ...WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES TODAY FOR ID ZNS 2 AND 3
        AND WA ZNS 33 AND 36...
     ...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY FOR WA ZNS 31 AND 38 AND ID ZN 27...
     ...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY WA ZN 42
     ...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SUNDAY FOR ID ZN 27 AND WA ZN 31...

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan

When: January 19, 4:00 AM PST to January 20, 8:00 PM PST
Where: W Okanogan/C&w Chelan forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, January 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: 5279171.