Heavy Snow in Washington, May 7 to 8, 2002

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
230 AM PDT TUE MAY 7 2002

STRONG JET STREAM SEGMENT IS ROUNDING THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF COLD
UPPER LEVEL LOW AND WILL HELP SHIFT/REFORM THE ROTATION CENTER
FURTHER EAST. BEST UPPER DIFFLUENCE IS DEVELOPING INTO WESTERN
MONTANA. MEANWHILE...A CIRCULATION CENTER IS SEEN SHIFTING SOUTHWARD
SOUTH OF DAVENPORT AND WILL LIKELY MOVE SOUTH/SOUTHEAST TOWARD THE
PALOUSE RIVER AND BLUE MOUNTAINS.

CURRENTLY NWS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES TWO BANDS OF WET SNOW...ONE
ROTATING INTO THE PALOUSE WHILE A SECOND...SLOWER-MOVING BAND EXTENDS
FROM NORTH OF DAVENPORT THROUGH KOOTENAI COUNTY AND SOUTHEAST THROUGH
CLARKIA ID. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS HAVE CONTINUED THIS MORNING AT
REARDON...WITH ACCUMULATIONS FURTHER EAST IN IDAHO SEEMINGLY AROUND
2500 FEET OR HIGHER. LATEST ETA GUIDANCE IS A BIT TOO BULLISH ON
PRECIPITATION ACROSS NORTHEAST WASHINGTON THIS MORNING...HOWEVER
SOUTHERN SHOSHONE COUNTY IS LIKELY TO RECEIVE SOME LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW
AMOUNTS. STRONGLY CONSIDERING A HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR THE CENTRAL
PANHANDLE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. AT THIS TIME THE OLD CIRCULATION
CENTER MAY WRAP SOUTHEAST QUICKLY ENOUGH TO LIMIT ACCUMULATIONS
ACROSS THE CAMAS PRAIRIE.

OTHERWISE...SUNSHINE IS BREAKING OUT ACROSS THE COLUMBIA BASIN
THROUGH THE NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE QUITE
UNSTABLE PER 500 MB TEMPERATURES AS COLD AS -36C...AND SCATTERED TO
NUMEROUS SHOWERS WILL RESULT.  WET BULB ZERO LEVELS REMAIN VERY
LOW...AND IN SPITE OF INSTABILITY UP TO NEAR 20K FEET...THE CHANCE
FOR CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING APPEARS TO BE LOW WITH IN-CLOUD
PRECIPITATION LIKELY TO BE MOSTLY FROZEN.  REMAINING HIGHLIGHTS WITH
EMPHASIS WELL WEST OF SPOKANE AND NEAR DAVENPORT WILL BE DISCONTINUED
AFTER THE NORTHERN SNOW BAND PASSES SOUTHWARD OVER AREAS WHERE HEAVY
SNOW HAS ALREADY OCCURRED.  OVER THE NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS...SNOW HAS
RETREATED SOUTHWARD AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CAN BE DROPPED NOW.

TEMPERATURE-WISE...WIDE RANGES TODAY NO DOUBT WITH THE CLOUDS...AREAS
OF THICK SNOW COVER...AND FALLING SNOW TO THE EAST. WILL TAKE DOWN
TEMPERATURES SOUTH AND EAST ZONES...WHEREAS EXPECTED SUNSHINE WEST
AND NORTH WILL PUSH MAX TEMPERATURES TO NEAR FORECAST VALUES.  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 048/029/055/033/057 62002
COE 047/028/055/032/056 62002
PUW 046/028/053/033/056 62002
LWS 050/036/060/038/062 72002
CQV 050/027/060/034/061 42103
SPT 044/027/055/032/055 64103
WWP 039/027/052/031/053 75103
EAT 057/035/064/039/063 21001
MWH 057/031/063/036/063 31001

.OTX...HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR ID ZONE 04 THROUGH THIS EVENING.
    ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW CONTINUES FOR WA ZONES 35 AND
       36 THROUGH NOON.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
525 AM PDT TUE MAY 7 2002

TIME(PDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0400 AM    8 NW AIRWAY HEIGHTS       WA   HEAVY SNOWFALL
05/07/02   SPOKANE                        7 INCHES OF SNOW OVERNIGHT
                                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER

0500 AM    3 NW AIRWAY HEIGHTS       WA   HEAVY SNOWFALL
05/07/02   SPOKANE                        5 INCHES OF SNOW OVERNIGHT
                                          AT THE NWS OFFICE

0520 AM    REARDAN                   WA   HEAVY SNOWFALL
05/07/02   LINCOLN                        10 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW
                                          OVERNIGHT REPORTED BY
                                          PUBLIC

0520 AM    DAVENPORT                 WA   HEAVY SNOWFALL
05/07/02   LINCOLN                        4 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW
                                          REPORTED BY SHERIFFS
                                          DEPARTMENT

HANER