Heavy Snow, Northern Panhandle
- When
- January 21, 9:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northern Panhandle forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.247, -116.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 21, 2011
A cold air mass was firmly in place as a moist warm front moved across the region. Much of the region saw a mix baggage of precipitation types with the Upper Columbia Basin and the Spokane/Coeur D'Alene Area seeing light freezing rain.
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 cold air mass was firmly in place as a moist warm front moved across the region. Much of the region saw a mix baggage of precipitation types with the Upper Columbia Basin and the Spokane/Coeur D'Alene Area seeing light freezing rain. The Northeast Mountains and Northern Panhandle Mountain valleys started out with light to moderate snowfall. The warmer air intruding in at low to mid levels began to change this snowfall over to a few hours of light freezing rain and/or sleet for the Northeast Mountain Valleys with mainly two to three inch snowfall accumulations reported. The thermal profile over the Northern Panhandle was cold enough for precipitation to remain as snow through the afternoon with heavy snow reported over the area.
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 Jan 21, 8:02 AM PST, 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 8:02 AM PST, 58 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 21, 6:31 AM PST, 2 hours 29 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 631 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2011 WAZ034-035-041-042-044-221500- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 631 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THIS MORNING...THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A LIGHT GLAZING OF ICE AROUND MOSES LAKE...EPHRATA....GRAND COULEE...WILBUR...AND RITZVILLE. PERIODS OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL PERSIST THROUGH MID TO LATE MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM ABOVE FREEZING BY NOON. GUSTY WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING OVER THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES...THE WENATCHEE AREA...THE WATERVILLE PLATEAU...AND AROUND MOSES LAKE. GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY IN THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IDZ001-002-WAZ036>038-043-221500- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-OKANOGAN VALLEY- 631 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WASHINGTON...AS WELL AS THE FAR NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE. SNOW WILL LIKELY CHANGE TO RAIN THIS AFTERNOON IN THE VALLEYS AND LOW LANDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IDZ003-026-027-WAZ031>033-221500- IDAHO PALOUSE-LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- WASHINGTON PALOUSE- 631 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IDZ004-221500- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- 631 AM PST FRI JAN 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...MAINLY ABOVE 4000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Cold in Illinois, January 21 to 24, 2011
- High Surf in California, January 21 to 23, 2011
- Lightning Strike in Florida, January 21, 2011
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, January 21 to 22, 2011
- Wildfire in Texas, January 21, 2011
- Winter Weather in Washington, January 21, 2011
- Cold in Wisconsin, January 21, 2011
- Dense Fog in California, January 21 to 26, 2011
- Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 21, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Maine, January 21, 2011
- Winter Storm in Massachusetts, January 21, 2011
- Winter Storm in Maine, January 21, 2011
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2011
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 275461.