High Wind in Washington, December 19, 2004

Name: High Wind in Washington, December 19, 2004
Start: 2004-12-19T11:00
End: 2004-12-19T19:00
Location: Washington

December 19, 2004 · NWS OTX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A strong cold front moved through the northern Cascades and Waterville Plateau area on the 19th of December. This front brought high winds with estimated gusts to 60 mph in several locations.

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.

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Wind
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Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 strong cold front moved through the northern Cascades and Waterville Plateau area on the 19th of December. This front brought high winds with estimated gusts to 60 mph in several locations. A woman died when a 93 foot tree fell on her while sledding in Lake Wenatchee State Park. Fallen trees were noted as well along Lake Wenatchee. A spotter reported high winds with estimated gusts to 60 mph near the town of Waterville on the Waterville Plateau.

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 Dec 19, 2:30 AM PST, 8 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 19, 2:30 AM PST, 8 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
230 AM PST SUN DEC 19 2004

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL BRING MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN
SHOWERS TO THE REGION TODAY. THIS FRONT WILL ALSO REDUCE THE LOW
CLOUDS AND FOG WHICH HAVE PLAGUED THE REGION FOR THE LAST FEW
DAYS. A COOL DOWN TO MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES WILL LAST THROUGH
THE WORK WEEK WITH MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
TODAY...SATELLITE REVEALS A COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC COAST
THIS MORNING. IR SATELLITE IDENTIFIES UPPER LEVEL CLOUD SHIELD FROM
THIS FRONT AND THE SPECKLED NATURE OF COLD AIR CLOUDS BEHIND THE
FRONT OVER THE PACIFIC...BUT MAIN NEAR SURFACE DEEPER MOISTURE NOT
APPARENT UNTIL EXAMINING 11-3.9 MICRON SAT IMAGERY. THIS CHANNEL
REVEALS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FRONTAL BAND JUST BEGINNING TO INTERSECT
THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA. LATEST MODEL RUNS DIFFER WITH THE STRENGTH
OF THIS FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL SUPPORTING WAVE. GFS IS DEEPER AND
STRONGER WHICH APPEARS BETTER INITIALIZED WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY.
WILL USE GFS FOR FORECAST. THE COLD FRONT AND UPPER WAVE PASSES
THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. FAST ZONAL NATURE OF MID LEVEL
FLOW WILL LIKELY KEEP THE ZONES IN THE LEE OF THE CASCADES DRY
EXCEPT FOR ISOLATED MORNING SHOWERS. BY AFTERNOON MOISTURE FEED
WILL BE DIRECTED INTO THE COLUMBIA BASIN WITH SOME MODERATE
DIFFERENTIAL PVA ALOFT AS WELL AS FAVORABLE PRE-FRONTAL OROGRAPHIC
LIFT INTO THE MOUNTAINS ARCING THE NORTHERN RIM OF THE BASIN. THUS
WILL PLACE LIKELY POPS IN THESE ZONES TODAY FOR VALLEY RAIN AND
MOUNTAIN LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW. EAST BASIN RISE ZONES FROM
PULLMAN TO THE SPOKANE AREA WILL BE ON FRINGE OF ENHANCED LIFT FOR
SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. TIME OF FROPA AND
WARM SECTOR AIR MASS OVER REGION WILL KEEP ANY VALLEY PRECIPITATION
AS RAIN. FOG AND STRATUS LIKELY TO BE QUICKLY SCRUBBED OUT OF BASIN
AFTER THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH GOOD COLD ADVECTION SPILLING INTO
THE REGION BRINGING DRIER AIR TO THE SURFACE LAYER.

TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...GFS FAIRLY CONSISTENT OVER PREVIOUS RUNS.
POST FRONTAL SNOW SHOWERS REMAIN OVER THE IDAHO PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS
TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING...WITH LARGELY DRY CONDITIONS
ELSEWHERE. A NOTICEABLY COOLER AIR MASS WILL FILL THE REGION BOTH
BEHIND TODAYS FRONTAL PASSAGE AND BLEED-IN THROUGH MOUNTAIN GAPS
FROM ARCTIC AIR MASS SLIPPING DOWN THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE MONDAY AND
TUESDAY. ON TUESDAY GFS TRIES TO BRING IN A SHORT WAVE AND WEAK
FRONTAL COMPLEX ASSOCIATED WITH THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE ARCTIC
CONTINENTAL AIR MASS AND THE POLAR MARITIME AIR MASS ADVECTING OFF
THE PACIFIC. HOWEVER...THE PRESENCE OF A STRONG SURFACE HIGH
PRESSURE OVER THE REGION AND THE TRADITIONALLY DRY NORTH TO
NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT DURING THIS COLLISION CREATES SERIOUS DOUBT AS
TO WHETHER ANYTHING BEYOND SCATTERED MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL
RESULT. /FUGAZZI

TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE TO PERSIST
OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH THE PERIOD.  A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
WAVE MOVES INTO THE RIDGE LATE IN THE PERIOD AND WEAKENS THE RIDGE
FLATTENING IT SOMEWHAT. STILL MOST OF THE ENERGY FROM THE
APPROACHING WAVE STAYS TO THE NORTH IN CANADA. WITH THIS IN
MIND WILL KEEP THE CWA DRY EXCEPT FOR EARLY IN THE PERIOD.
HAVE SOME SLIGHT CHANCE SHOWERS OVER THE EXTREME EASTERN
PORTION OF THE IDAHO PANHANDLE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. FROM
THAT POINT ON THE MAIN WEATHER PROBLEM WILL BE CONSIDERABLE NIGHT AND
MORNING FOG. EXPECT FOG TO BE A PROBLEM FOR ALL THE LOWER LEVEL
TERRAIN UNTIL THE END OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD. TEMPERATURES TO COOL A
LITTLE IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD BUT FOR THE MOST PART WILL STILL BE
SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. /LH

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

SPOKANE        043 030 035 023 033/ 40 10 10 10 10
COEUR DALENE  042 030 035 024 032/ 50 10 10 10 10
PULLMAN        044 030 035 025 033/ 30 10 10 10 10
LEWISTON       049 034 041 028 038/ 20 10 10 10 10
COLVILLE       040 026 032 018 031/ 60 20 20 10 20
SANDPOINT      042 029 034 021 032/ 60 20 20 20 20
WALLACE        042 029 031 022 029/ 60 60 60 30 20
MOSES LAKE     044 030 038 026 036/ 10 05 05 05 00
WENATCHEE      044 030 035 025 034/ 20 05 05 05 00
OMAK           042 027 032 022 032/ 20 10 10 10 05
&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.WA...NONE.
.ID...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan

When: December 19, 11:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST
Where: W Okanogan/C&w Chelan forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Douglas X Extreme W&n Parts/Nw Grant

When: December 19, 1:00 PM PST to 7:00 PM PST
Where: Douglas X Extreme W&n Parts/Nw Grant forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.471, -119.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan	2004-12-19	24	Female	Under Tree	Direct

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, December 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: 5429310, 5429311.