A strong moisture-laden jet stream from the west-northwest in combination with a polar air mass arriving from Canada brought exceptionally heavy snow to parts of eastern Washington on this first day of spring. Heavy snowfall in the immediate Spokane area resulted when a stationary band of heavy snow developed over central Spokane County and remained in the same place for nearly 12 hours.
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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.
A strong moisture-laden jet stream from the west-northwest in combination with a polar air mass arriving from Canada brought exceptionally heavy snow to parts of eastern Washington on this first day of spring. Heavy snowfall in the immediate Spokane area resulted when a stationary band of heavy snow developed over central Spokane County and remained in the same place for nearly 12 hours. Far northern and southern parts of Spokane County received one inch or less of snow. In the Cascades, this exceptionally heavy snow pounded the passes for two straight days, closing Stevens Pass to traffic from the afternoon of the 19th through the morning of the 20th due to the avalanche threat. The west-northwest trajectory of the jet stream was also conducive for pushing heavy snow past the crest and into the upper reaches of the major valleys. Snowfall totals with this storm include: Stevens Pass...36", Holden Village...24", 49 Degrees North Ski Area...22", Harts Pass SNOTEL...22", Lake Wenatchee...18", Plain...16", Stehekin...15", Blewett Pass...14", Mount Spokane Ski Area...12", Mission Ridge Ski Area...11+", NWS Spokane...7.7", Bodie Mountain...5", Spokane International Airport...4.5", Boundary Dam...4", Davenport...3.2", and Northport...3". The snowfall total of 4.5" at the Spokane International Airport is the heaviest snow to fall so late in the season.
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 19, 2:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 AM PST TUE MAR 19 2002 INTERESTING WEATHER SITUATION. FLOW ALOFT FROM THE NORTHWEST. 700MB REMAINS FROM THE NORTHWEST UNTIL THURSDAY WHEN IT SHIFTS TO MORE SOUTHWESTERLY. 85OMB FLOW FROM THE SOUTHWEST. COLDEST AIR AT THE PRESENT TIME JUST TO THE NORTH OVER CANADA BUT SOME OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND THE NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE. WARM AIR WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD ACROSS WASHINGTON TODAY AND PUSH THE COLD AIR NORTHEAST. HOWEVER THE WARM AIR NEVER QUITE PUSHES ALL THE WAY NORTH TO CANADA SO WE ARE LEFT WITH COLD AIR OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE. WITH THIS COMBINATION OF AIR FLOWS EXPECT THE HIGHER PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS TO BE OVER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE IN IDAHO ZONES 1 AND 4. ALSO WITH THIS FLOW AND THE COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE EXPECT SOME SNOW OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. AT THE PRESENT TIME HAVE A WSW GOING FOR WASHINGTON ZONE 37 AND IDAHO ZONES 1 AND 4. WILL KEEP THESE GOING THROUGH TODAY. GUIDANCE HAS VERY HIGH POPS FOR THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE CWA AND MODEST POPS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. WILL KEEP HIGHER POPS IN THE NORTHEAST BUT EXPECT THE BASIN WILL HAVE TOO MUCH DOWNSLOPE SO LOW POPS THERE. WILL DROP THE PRESENT TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY AND WEDNESDAY AND THEN SHOW CONSIDERABLE WARMING FOR THURSDAY. WILL ALSO KEEP CATEGORICAL POPS FOR IDAHO ZONES 1 AND 4 AND LIKELYS OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON WITH HIGH CHANCE OVER MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN WASHINGTON. WITH THE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL KEEP THE WARNING GOING FOR WASHINGTON ZONE 42 AND TALK MAINLY ABOUT CREST ACCUMULATIONS. .EXTENDED...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS FORECAST TO PUSH EASTWARD ON FRIDAY AS THE NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH BEGINS TO MOVE INLAND. AT THIS TIME WILL KEEP MOST OF THE CWA DRY WITH JUST A MENTION OF A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ALONG THE CASCADE EAST SLOPES...BUT LATEST MRF IS NOW BRINGING THIS SYSTEM IN A LITTLE FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS AND THIS TIMING MAY HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED EVENTUALLY. THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THEN REMAINS OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND KEEPING THE AREA COOL AND UNSETTLED. BY MONDAY IT APPEARS THE TROUGH WILL DIG SOUTHWARD ALLOWING A RIDGE TO BUILD IN OVER THE INLAND NORTHWEST FOR DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS. CC ...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 038/028/035/024/045 56631 COE 037/027/034/022/044 57731 PUW 041/031/037/026/048 56321 LWS 047/034/042/032/048 34110 CQV 036/026/034/021/045 67731 SPT 034/025/030/019/043 88731 WWP 033/024/032/023/043 88741 EAT 044/029/043/028/049 02321 MWH 044/034/043/029/050 01210 .OTX...WINTER STORM WARNING ID ZNS 1 4 AND WA ZNS 37 42 TODAY...
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5287350, 5287351, 5287352.