Strong winds moved across Northern Idaho during the day of March 19th. A spotter recorded winds of 56 mph in Kootenai County while a report from Sandpoint showed gusts of 50 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Strong winds moved across Northern Idaho during the day of March 19th. A spotter recorded winds of 56 mph in Kootenai County while a report from Sandpoint showed gusts of 50 mph. Power outages resulted from the strong winds.
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, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 AM PST FRI MAR 19 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG JET STREAM WILL KEEP THE WIND BREEZY TODAY WITH ONLY MOUNTAIN SHOWERS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP FOR DRY AND WARMER WEATHER ON THE WEEKEND. A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK FOR A SLIGHT THREAT OF SHOWERS. && .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...THURSDAYS SYSTEM IS NOW WELL EAST OF OUR AREA BUT PLENTY OF INSTABILITY PRECIP HITTING THE CASCADES. STRONG WESTERLY FLOW IS KEEPING THIS PRECIP CONFINED TO THE CREST AND SHOULD BE DECREASING TODAY. ALSO SHOULD SEE SOME INSTABILITY CLOUDS AND SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE NORTHERN/EASTERN MOUNTAINS BUT THIS WILL DIE OFF QUICKLY AFTER SUNSET. OTHERWISE SHOULD BE MOSTLY SUNNY AND BREEZY TODAY. WIDE VIEW OF SATELLITE TELLS THE STORY FOR THE WEEKEND. LARGE-SCALE TROUGH DIGGING IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL PUMP UP AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE OVER OUR AREA ON SATURDAY FOR A NICE SUNNY DAY. THIS TROUGH WILL TAP INTO SOME MOISTURE CURRENTLY LOCATED EAST OF HAWAII. THE RESULT WILL BE A DEVELOPING LOW OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC. MEANWHILE AT THE LOWER LEVELS HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLIDE DOWN FROM CANADA BUT WILL STAY EAST OF THE ROCKIES. BUT THIS HIGH COUPLED WITH THE DEVELOPING LOW IN THE EAST PACIFIC WILL SET UP A MODERATE NE-SW PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER OUR AREA FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS SHOULD GIVE DECENT NORTHEAST WINDS TO THE FAVORED LOCATIONS LIKE THE HWY 95 CORRIDOR. THE AFOREMENTIONED DEVELOPING LOW DEEPENS AS IT MOVES NORTH BUT THE RIDGE OVER US KEEPS THIS LOW WELL TO OUR WEST SO ALL WE SHOULD SEE FROM IT ON SUNDAY IS SOME HIGH CLOUDS. RJ SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...MODELS AND PATTERN TREND POINT TO REGION REMAINING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WOULD EXPECT THE OCCASIONAL MINOR UPPER LEVEL PERTURBATION TO MOVE THROUGH THE RIDGE TO KICK OFF SOME ISOLATED SNOW OR RAIN SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. WEDNESDAY NIGHT THE GFS AND EURO ALONG WITH THE 5-WAVE MRF SUGGEST THE FLOW OVER THE FORECAST REGION WILL BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST AS THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS EASTWARD...A LONGWAVE TROUGH PATTERN THEN PREVAILS ALONG THE COAST OPENING THE DOOR FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONGER LOW PRESSURE DISTURBANCES AND PACIFIC MOISTURE TO PROPAGATE OVER THE INLAND NORTHWEST TRIGGERING SHOWER ACTIVITY. TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION WILL TREND WARMER THAN CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. /JVW && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 047 028 053 033 062/ 20 00 00 00 00 COEUR DALENE 047 027 054 032 060/ 20 05 00 00 00 PULLMAN 047 027 056 036 066/ 10 00 00 00 00 LEWISTON 053 033 063 038 070/ 05 00 00 00 00 COLVILLE 050 027 058 032 066/ 20 00 00 00 00 SANDPOINT 045 025 053 028 060/ 20 05 00 00 00 WALLACE 045 025 057 028 062/ 20 05 00 00 00 MOSES LAKE 055 028 063 036 068/ 05 00 00 00 00 WENATCHEE 055 032 058 036 063/ 05 00 00 00 00 OMAK 057 028 059 031 063/ 10 00 00 00 00 && .OTX... ID...NONE. WA...NONE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 537 AM PST FRI MAR 19 2004 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-201430- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 537 AM PST FRI MAR 19 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE AREAS LISTED ABOVE. .DAY ONE... TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2004
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: 5390130, 5390131.