Flood, Whitman
- When
- March 11, 12:00 PM PST to March 12, 12:00 PM PST
- Where
- Whitman County, 5 mi NE of Oakesdale
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 46.901, -117.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Washington, March 11 to 12, 2002
The combination of rain and melting snow pushed some small streams out of their banks in the Palouse region. WA Highway 27 had to be closed for about 24 hours between Tekoa and Oakesdale as high waters from Pine Creek overflowed the road.
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.
The combination of rain and melting snow pushed some small streams out of their banks in the Palouse region. WA Highway 27 had to be closed for about 24 hours between Tekoa and Oakesdale as high waters from Pine Creek overflowed the road. This same general area in the northern Palouse received 7 or more inches of snow less than a week earlier (see Heavy Snow entries).
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 11, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON...CORRECTION
830 AM PST MON MAR 11 2002
WINDS AT MISSION RIDGE AT 8AM SUSTAINED AT 53 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 75
MPH. THIS IS COVERED IN A HIGH WIND WARNING. ALSO RECEIVED A REPORT
OF 7.5 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT MAZAMA AND 4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT
MANSON. WINTER STORM WARNING IN AFFECT FOR ZONE 42.
PLUME OF MOISTURE FROM WASHINGTON STRETCHING OFF TO THE SOUTHWEST
CONTINUES TO SAG SLOWLY SOUTHWARD. STRONG JET IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT. SURFACE WARM FRONT CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL AND
EASTERN WASHINGTON. WARM AIR NOT AS DEEP AS PREVIOUSLY THROUGH AND SO
WILL LOWER SNOW LEVELS. SNOWING HEAVY THIS MORNING AT SPIRIT LAKE AT
ABOUT 2500 FEET. NO REPORT OF SNOW DEPTH DUE TO THE WINDS BLOWING THE
SNOW AROUND. STILL RAIN OR SNOW OVER MUCH OF THE CWA THE EXCEPTION
BEING THE CENTRAL BASIN WHICH AT THIS TIME IS DRY. ALSO THE SNOW HAS
STOPPED IN THE LOWER REACHES OF THE EAST SLOPES. SNOW LEVEL TO RISE A
LITTLE WITH WARM FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA THEN LOWER AGAIN WITH
THE COLD FRONT. THIS WILL BRING THE SNOW LEVEL DOWN TO AROUND 2000
FEET. WILL UPDATE SOME OF THE ZONES TO REFLECT LOWER SNOW LEVELS. FOR
INSTANCE DOWNTOWN SPOKANE MAY SEE RAIN OR POSSIBLY MIXED RAIN AND
SNOW TONIGHT WHILE THE AIRPORT SHOULD HAVE SNOW.
WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FACTOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING EAST OF
THE NORTHERN CASCADE CREST OVER THE HIGHER RIDGES. VALLEYS WILL SEE
LIGHTER WINDS. DONT EXPECT NORTHEAST WA MTNS OR PANHANDLE TO HAVE
AS MUCH PROBLEM DUE TO LATER EVENING/NIGHTTIME FRONTAL PASSAGE AND
POTENTIALLY LESS MIXING.
WINDS AND PRECIPITATION TO DIMINISH BY TUESDAY WITH REGION IN COOLER
UNSTABLE WEST FLOW PRODUCING SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY THESE PERIODS.
...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 050/034/046/032/043 99335
COE 048/033/045/031/043 +9435
PUW 051/035/047/033/045 98535
LWS 057/042/055/038/050 68333
CQV 047/031/046/033/044 97555
SPT 045/035/044/033/043 +8555
WWP 041/038/045/035/041 +8755
EAT 050/035/050/033/049 53111
MWH 053/036/054/034/051 44333
.OTX...WINTER STORM WARNING IN ID ZONES 1 AND 4 AND WA ZONE 42 FROM
TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING...
...HIGH WIND WARNING ABOVE 3000 FEET EAST SLOPE NORTHERN
CASCADES WA ZONE 42...The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, March 11, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 11 to 12, 2002
- High Wind in Wyoming, March 11 to 12, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 11 to 12, 2002
- Winter Storm in Montana, March 11 to 12, 2002
- High Wind in Oregon, March 11, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, March 11 to 13, 2002
- High Wind in Alaska, March 11, 2002
- High Wind in Washington, March 11, 2002
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 11, 2002
- Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 11, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 11 to 12, 2002
More
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 5287251.