Heavy Snow, Tacoma Area
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Tacoma Area forecast zone
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow in Washington, January 6, 2004
It snowed over much of western Washington before turning to freezing rain in the evening. Most locations reported between 3 and 11 inches of snow, with 4 to 8 inches being most common.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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 SEW wrote it up.
It snowed over much of western Washington before turning to freezing rain in the evening. Most locations reported between 3 and 11 inches of snow, with 4 to 8 inches being most common. Although most schools were closed and a lot of people stayed home, there were still some major traffic problems on I-5 and Highway 16 in Tacoma. State patrol required chains in some areas. Many state, local and federal offices closed early. About 30 streets were closed in the city of Seattle. Out of the hundreds of accidents only about 10 of them had injuries. Broken water pipes was a common problem.
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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 5, 8:36 PM PST, 5 hours 24 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 8:36 PM PST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
845 PM MON JAN 5 2004
.SYNOPSIS...A WARM AND MOIST PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL OVERRUN
VERY COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE RESULT WILL BE
WIDESPREAD SNOW OVER THE LOWLANDS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. SNOW WILL
TURN TO RAIN BY LATE AFTERNOON. A SERIES OF WARMER PACIFIC SYSTEMS
WILL BRING PERIODS OF RAIN AND MILD CONDITIONS LATER TUESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
THE WEATHER REGIME IS CHANGING ON SCHEDULE.
COLD AIR IS IN PLACE WITH TEMPERATURES ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON IN
THE 20S. EASTERLY TO NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ALONG A LINE FROM TACOMA TO
KHQM NWD GIVING DEWPOINTS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. AT THE SAME TIME A
VERY MOIST SUBTROPICAL PLUME IS SEEN EXTENDING FROM 100 NM W OF KAST
SWWD TO SE OF HAWAII. THIS PLUME IS BEGINNING TO RAM UP AGAINST THE
COLD AIR AND SPREAD OUT INTO A DEFORMATION ZONE FROM SE OREGON TO N
OF A LOW CENTERED AT 45N/145W.
SHORT TERM MODELS ARE QUITE CONSISTENT IN BRINGING PCPN IN AS SNOW
WITH 6-10 INCHES S INTR AND ALONG HOOD CANAL...AND 3-5 INCHES TACOMA
NWD IN THE INTR WITH LIGHTER AMOUNTS ALONG THE CASCADES WHERE ELY
FLOW IS GIVING SOME LOCAL DRYING. EVEN THE COAST GETS 4 INCHES OR SO
BEFORE PCPN CHANGES OVER TO RAIN. CHANGE TO RAIN IS CONSISTENT WITH
PREVIOUS THOUGHTS...MID TO LATE MORNING ON THE COAST...AROUND NOON
TACOMA AREA...AND MID TO LATE AFTERNOON --AND POSSIBLY EARLY
EVENING-- SEATTLE NWD. THE FRASER VALLEY WILL BE LAST TO TURN OVER
-AROUND 10 PM OR SO. AFTER THE TURN-OVER...THERE COULD BE A PERIOD
OF FREEZING RAIN AT THE ENTRANCE TO SNOQUALMIE PASS AND IN THE
FRASER VALLEY.
IF THE CHANGE TO RAIN IS A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER...THERE IS A
POSSIBILITY THAT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE GREATER THAN ADVERTISED.
WE WONT HAVE A GOOD FEEL ON THAT UNTIL THE TRANSITION BEGINS. THE
MORE SNOW...THE GREATER THE POSSIBILITY FOR URBAN AND SMALL STREAM
FLOODING AS THE GROUND IS FROZEN AND THE SLUSH WILL HAVE NO WHERE TO
GO.
TUE NIGHT TEMPERATURES WARMER THAN THE DAYTIME VALUES. ANOTHER BAND
OF RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH A WAVE ON A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT DRIVES N
FROM NW OREGON TO SW WA WED. OTHER WAVES WED NIGHT THRU FRI GIVE
RATHER HEFTY 0.5 TO 1 INCH AMOUNTS EVERY 12 TO 18 HRS. THE MELTING
LOW ELEVATION SNOW AND PERSISTENT RAINFALL WITH FREEZING LEVELS
RISING TO NEAR 5000 FEET ALL POINT TO SIGNIFICANT RIVER
RISES...THOUGH NO MODELS BRING ANY UP OVER FLOOD STAGE. THE NEXT
SHIFT MAY NEED TO CONTEMPLATE A FLOOD WATCH AFTER LOOKING AT
INCOMING MODELS.
WILL REISSUE THE HEAVY SNOW WARNING STATEMENT WITH FEW IF ANY
CHANGES BY 10PM. CURRENT STATE...ZONE...AND GRIDDED FORECASTS LOOK
GOOD.
ALBRECHT
&&
.SEW...HEAVY SNOW WARNING WESTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY.
.GALE WARNING STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA AND COAST.
.SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAMANO ISLAND TO POINT ROBERTS.
.KATX...VCP32/CSR32...OPERATIONAL.
&&In the hours before
Local storm report, Jan 5, 9:02 PM PST, 4 hours 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
902 PM PST MON JAN 05 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 3 ESE NORTH BEND 47.47N 121.74W
01/05/2004 54 MPH KING WA TRAINED SPOTTER
EAST WINDS 30 MPH SUSTAINED WITH GUSTS 40 MPH.
&&
JLBEvent by event
9 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Northern Cascade Foothills
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northern Cascade Foothills forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Hood Canal/Kitsap Peninsula
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Hood Canal/Kitsap Peninsula forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Western Strait of Juan de Fuca
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Western Strait of Juan de Fuca forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Everett and Vicinity
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Everett and Vicinity forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Southwest Interior
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Southwest Interior forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, North Coast
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- North Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Seattle Metropolitan Area
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Seattle Metropolitan Area forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Northwest Interior
- When
- January 6, 2:00 AM PST to 7:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northwest Interior forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 6, 2004
- Cold in Illinois, January 6, 2004
- Cold in Illinois, January 6, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, January 6 to 8, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 6 to 8, 2004
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 6 to 8, 2004
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 6 to 7, 2004
- Strong Wind in Alaska, January 6 to 7, 2004
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Michigan, January 6 to 8, 2004
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Oregon, January 6 to 9, 2004
- Winter Weather in Washington, January 6 to 7, 2004
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Washington, January 6 to 9, 2004
More
Every storm in Washington in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 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: 5382410, 5382411, 5382412, 5382413, 5382414, 5382415, 5382416, 5382417, 5382418.