A cold front passage brought high winds to portions of eastern Washington during the afternoon and evening of April 27th. The highest wind gust measured was 72 mph at Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River.
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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 cold front passage brought high winds to portions of eastern Washington during the afternoon and evening of April 27th. The highest wind gust measured was 72 mph at Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River. A gust of 61 mph was reported from the city of Moses Lake and sustained strong winds severely damaged a marina on Moses Lake. Near Moses Lake blowing dust produced near zero visibility and lead to numerous traffic accidents, killing one motorist. In the Cascade Mountains a tree fell on a garage in Peshastin. Over the Palouse region Silicott Island measured a wind gust of 59 mph. In the Okanogan Valley at Oroville a remote weather station measured a wind gust of 70 mph.
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 Apr 27, 1:30 AM PST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 AM PDT TUE APR 27 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST DURING THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ALONG WITH A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE FRONT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN ON THURSDAY RETURNING THE WARM TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS INTO THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... TODAY AND TONIGHT...SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATING THE FRONTAL SYSTEM THAT IS NOW ALONG THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST IS STRENGTHENING. THE NEW RUNS OF BOTH THE GFS AND ETA SHOW THIS MODERATE TO STRONG FRONT PUSHING THROUGH WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO STARTING THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS A SMALL DISCREPANCY IN TIMING AMONG THE TWO MODELS. THIS WILL HAVE NO AFFECT ON TIMING OF THE PRECIPITATION AND WINDS IN THE FORECAST. HOWEVER...IT WILL HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR TODAY. TAKING A LOOK AT YESTERDAYS DIURNAL CURVE... 850MB TEMPERATURE FROM YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND INCOMING CLOUD COVER ALL LED TO A CONSENSUS THAT TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE ABOUT 4 TO 5 DEGREES ABOVE MOS NUMBERS. WILL ADJUST TEMPERATURES HERE ACCORDINGLY. WIND ADVISORY STILL APPEARS TO BE APPLICABLE TO THE DEVELOPING SITUATION. NO CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO EITHER THE FORECAST OR THE ADVISORY WITH REGARD TO WINDS. THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE MARKED BY SHOWER ACTIVITY AND THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WITH STRONG, QUICK MOVING FRONTS FROM THE NORTH ARE TYPICALLY LIMITED. SO WILL LEAVE IN ISOLATED WORDING. MOST OF THE SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL PUSH SOUTH RATHER QUICKLY WITH THE FRONT. POST FRONTAL SHOWERS WILL LINGER FOR A FEW HOURS INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. ON WEDNESDAY HIGH PRESSURE MOVES BACK INTO THE AREA. ON THIS FIRST POST-COLD FRONT DAY HIGH TEMPERATURES RESTORED TO THE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMAL RANGE. RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD ON THURSDAY WITH HIGH TEMPS REBOUNDING BACK ABOVE NORMAL. /LERICOS THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...GOOD MODEL TO MODEL AND RUN TO RUN AGREEMENT IN MAINTAINING A RIDGE ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH MONDAY. DRY CONDITIONS WITH GRADUAL INCREASE IN HIGH TEMPERATURES EACH DAY THROUGH THE PERIOD. /FUGAZZI .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 071 037 061 037 066/ 30 40 10 00 00 COEUR DALENE 070 038 061 035 067/ 30 50 10 00 00 PULLMAN 073 036 059 036 065/ 20 50 10 00 00 LEWISTON 080 045 062 042 073/ 10 60 20 00 00 COLVILLE 073 038 064 037 071/ 30 40 10 00 00 SANDPOINT 072 035 057 035 063/ 30 60 10 00 00 WALLACE 071 036 053 036 060/ 30 60 30 00 00 MOSES LAKE 074 043 068 038 070/ 10 20 10 00 00 WENATCHEE 074 041 068 043 071/ 10 20 10 00 00 OMAK 074 039 067 039 073/ 10 20 10 00 00 && .OTX... ID...WIND ADVISORY ZONES 1-4 26,27 TODAY 1200 PM THROUGH 1100 PM. WA...WIND ADVISORY ZONES 31-38 41-44 TODAY 1200 PM THROUGH 1100 PM.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 638 AM PDT TUE APR 27 2004 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-281330- 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- 638 AM PDT TUE APR 27 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE AREAS LISTED ABOVE. .DAY ONE...TODAY LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH THE REGION. THIS FRONT WILL BRING STRONG WESTERLY WINDS ACROSS THE COLUMBIA BASIN AND OVER EXPOSED LOCATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO...THEREFORE A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN ADDITION THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS AS THIS FRONT PASSES THROUGH. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON WEDNESDAY IN THE WAKE OF THIS FRONT WILL BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAYS HIGHS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, April 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: 5395836, 5395837, 5395838, 5395839.