Flash Flood, Okanogan
- When
- August 16, 7:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
- Where
- Okanogan County, West Central Portion
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 48.549, -119.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Washington, August 16, 2004
A thunderstorm moved across west central Okanogan County on the evening of August 16th bring heavy rain to the area. Much slide closed several local roads.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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.
A thunderstorm moved across west central Okanogan County on the evening of August 16th bring heavy rain to the area. Much slide closed several local roads. Several new forest fires were reported.
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 Aug 16, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 1:30 PM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 PM PDT MON AUG 16 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL PERSIST OVER THE INLAND NORTHWEST THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK CONTINUING OUR STRING OF HOT WEATHER. MEANWHILE...INCREASING MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND MINOR UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL BRING A THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE MOUNTAINS BOTH LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY. && .DISCUSSION... TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...OROGRAPHIC THUNDERSTORMS FIRING ALONG THE WASHINGTON AND IDAHO MOUNTAINS BEING TRIGGERED BY SURFACE HEATING WITH AN ALREADY CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND WEAK FORCING ALOFT FROM A PACIFIC WAVE PROPAGATING THROUGH THE RIDGE. ANOTHER WAVE OVER OREGON IS PUSHING MONSOONAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD TOWARD THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND LEWISTON...CAMAS PRAIRIE REGION WHICH SHOULD TRIGGER SOME ISOLATED CONVECTION THERE THIS AFTERNON AND EARLY EVENING. ANOTHER WAVE MOVING OUT OF THE MAIN TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CASCADES TONIGHT REIGNITING ISOLATED CONVECTION. THIS WAVE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THE RIDGE PROGRESSING EASTWARD TUESDAY TRIGGERING AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN WA AND ID PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS ZONES. ON WEDNESDAY...YET ANOTHER WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE RIDGE BRUSHING NORTHEASTERN WA AND THE NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE TRIGGERING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH ITS PASSAGE. ASIDE FROM MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS...FORECAST AREA WILL REMAIN HOT AND DRY. THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TO REMAIN IN PLACE. HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE WEEKEND. /LERICOS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 063 093 061 091 061 092/ 00 00 00 05 00 00 COEUR DALENE 059 093 060 091 058 092/ 00 00 00 05 00 00 PULLMAN 057 087 059 088 051 091/ 10 00 00 05 00 00 LEWISTON 069 095 067 095 061 097/ 20 00 00 00 00 05 COLVILLE 055 099 058 098 052 094/ 00 10 05 05 05 10 SANDPOINT 052 093 059 090 053 092/ 00 10 05 05 10 10 WALLACE 057 091 060 092 062 086/ 05 05 05 10 10 10 MOSES LAKE 065 097 064 097 059 095/ 10 10 10 00 00 00 WENATCHEE 068 093 067 095 066 094/ 10 10 10 00 00 00 OMAK 066 097 065 097 060 098/ 10 10 10 00 00 00 && .OTX... ID...NONE. WA...NONE.
The radar
The Spokane radar (KOTX), 184 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:59 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, August 16 to 17, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arizona, August 16, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kansas, August 16, 2004
- Debris Flow and Heavy Rain in Puerto Rico, August 16, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, August 16, 2004
- Waterspouts in Gulf of Mexico, August 16, 2004
- Tornadoes in Kansas, August 16, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Minnesota, August 16, 2004
- Heavy Rain in Puerto Rico, August 16, 2004
- Hail in New York, August 16, 2004
- Flash Flood in Arizona, August 16, 2004
- Hail in Pennsylvania, August 16, 2004
More
Every storm in Washington in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2004
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: 5418949.