Name: High Wind in Washington, March 11, 2002
Start: 2002-03-11T07:00
End: 2002-03-11T15:00
Location: Washington

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.

Jet stream winds located directly over the Northwest brought high winds to the ridge tops east of the crest of the northern Washington Cascades. The avalanche sensor atop Mission Ridge (elevation 6740 feet) measured sustained winds in excess of 50 mph for 8 hours. The peak wind gust of 98 mph was measured at 200 PM. Valley locations did not experience high winds on this day.

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, 2:45 AM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 2:45 AM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON...CORRECTION
245 AM PST MON MAR 11 2002

CORRECTED HEADLINES AT BOTTOM

IMPRESSIVE LATE WINTER STORM WITH LONG FETCH OF PACIFIC MOISTURE AND
130KT/300MB JET IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. SURFACE WARM FRONT AHEAD OF
THE SYSTEM ALREADY IN SOUTHWEST WA WITH MID LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION
CLOUDS MOVING INTO ERN WA AND THE PANHANDLE. BEST CHANCES OF
SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN THE PANHANDLE AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF
THE NORTH CASCADE MOUNTAINS ESPECIALLY NEAR THE CREST. CURRENTLY HAVE
WARNINGS OUT FOR THESE ZONES INTO THE EVENING HOURS TONIGHT. SNOW
LEVELS WILL VARY BETWEEN 4000 AND 5000 FEET. ONCE THE COLD FRONT SAGS
SOUTH SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP ABOUT 2000 FEET BY TUESDAY BUT WITH LESS
WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW
SHOWERS. LESS CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IN THE BASIN AND LOWER CASCADE
EAST SLOPE VALLEYS ESPECIALLY BY THIS EVENING.

WINDS WILL BE A FACTOR AS WELL THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING EAST OF THE
NORTHERN CASCADE CREST. JET CORE SAGS SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON
IMPACTING THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS FIRST. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW
DESTABILIZING AIR MASS NEAR THE CASCADES AND STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW.
SIMILAR PATTERNS HAVE PRODUCED STRONG WINDS IN THE MISSION RIDGE
VICINITY POSSIBLY ENHANCED BY SOME MOUNTAIN WAVE INFLUENCE OFF THE
CASCADE CREST. WILL HAVE A HIGH WIND WARNING WITH SUSTAINED WINDS
AROUND 50KT GUSTING TO 70 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AGAIN THIS
CAN BE FAIRLY LOCALIZED EAST OF THE CASCADE CREST AND IN THE
MOUNTAINS. VALLEYS WILL ONLY SEE A FRACTION OF THESE WINDS DUE TO THE
ORIENTATION OF THE FLOW. 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. TC

.EXTENDED...AS PER LATEST MRF LOW DROPS DOWN FROM NORTHWEST FLOW AND
KIND OF JUST SITS AND SPINS OVER THE AREA THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
THIS IS IN AGREEMENT WITH EARLIER MRF RUN AND PREVIOUS FORECAST BASED
UPON IT SO THE THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY FORECAST REMAINS AN
UNCHANGED...BROAD BRUSHED...SOMEWHAT WET...AND SLIGHTLY COOL ONE.

...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...

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan

When: March 11, 7:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: W Okanogan/C&w Chelan forecast zone
Measured: 85 kt (98 mph)
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5287353.