A wet spring season continued for the Inland Northwest as another wet storm system moved through the region May 21-22nd producing in the neighborhood of half to one and a half inches of liquid precipitation over Northern Washington. This resulted in additional rises of many creeks and streams which were already swollen from wet spring conditions and excessive snowmelt throughout the month.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 wet spring season continued for the Inland Northwest as another wet storm system moved through the region May 21-22nd producing in the neighborhood of half to one and a half inches of liquid precipitation over Northern Washington. This resulted in additional rises of many creeks and streams which were already swollen from wet spring conditions and excessive snowmelt throughout the month. Streams and creeks continued to run out of their banks and flood roadways throughout the East Slopes of the Northern Cascades.
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 May 22, 1:44 AM PST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 244 AM PDT SUN MAY 22 2011 .SYNOPSIS... RAIN WILL MOVE OUT OF THE INLAND NORTHWEST THIS MORNING. SOME WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO THE AFTERNOON...BUT MOST OF EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO WILL HAVE DRY CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON. ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ARRIVE ON TUESDAY...BRINGING ANOTHER GOOD CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION. WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY COULD ALSO BE QUITE WET AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. && .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH TOMORROW...AN 80KT 250MB JET IS DIVING TOWARD CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING...AND CARVING AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. A SMALL SCALE DISTURBANCE IS BEING KICKED THROUGH EASTERN WASHINGTON EARLY THIS MORNING...AND TRIGGERING SHOWERS OVER THE IDAHO PANHANDLE AND NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. AS OF 2AM...THE RADAR MOSAIC HAD YET TO SHOW A PRONOUNCED DEFORMATION BAND OVER THE SPOKANE FORECAST AREA LIKE MANY OF THE MODELS SUGGESTED. PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN MORE SHOWERY IN NATURE AND HAS NOT DEVELOPED AS FAR WEST AS ANTICIPATED. PLACES LIKE GRAND COULEE AND THE WATERVILLE PLATEAU LOOK AS IF THEY WILL BE MISSED BY THE MAJORITY OF THE PRECIPITATION THIS MORNING. TRENDS IN RADAR...AND TRENDS IN NUMERICAL GUIDANCE...SUGGEST THAT PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE OUT OF EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO SEVERAL HOURS FASTER THAN OUR PREVIOUS FORECAST. BY LATE MORNING...THE VORTICITY MAX HELPING TO GENERATE THE SHOWERS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA. MID LEVEL DRYING BEHIND THIS DISTURBANCE SHOULD ALLOW FOR MOST OF EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO TO EXPERIENCE A DRY AFTERNOON. MODEL SOUNDINGS SUGGEST SOME SHALLOW INSTABILITY OVER THE NORTHERN CASCADES...OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS...AND WATERVILLE PLATEAU THIS AFTERNOON. INSTABILITY MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO GENERATE SOME WIDELY SCATTERED WEAK SHOWERS. SCATTERED SHOWERS MAY ALSO LINGER OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF THE PANHANDLE...BUT AS THE AFTERNOON WEARS ON...EXPECT A DECREASE IN THE SHOWER POTENTIAL IN PLACES LIKE KELLOGG AND ST MARIES. FOR TONIGHT...THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING THIS EVENING WILL LEAD TO THE DEMISE OF THE CUMULUS FIELD OVER THE REGION. THE UPPER JET DIVING INTO CALIFORNIA WILL RELOAD THE UPPER TROUGH AND THE 500MB TROUGH AXIS WILL BECOME ALIGNED OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL OREGON...AND THE BEST PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL BE WELL SOUTH OF THE SPOKANE FORECAST AREA. MID LEVEL MOISTURE WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE ON MONDAY...BUT IT WILL LIKELY BE MONDAY NIGHT OR TUESDAY BEFORE PRECIPITATION CHANCES NOTICEABLY INCREASE OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO. IN GENERAL PRECIPITATION CHANCES FOR MONDAY HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO 20 PERCENT OR LESS. /GKOCH MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...HIGH UNCERTAINTY EXISTS AS TO HOW MUCH RAIN WILL FALL THIS WEEK. THE POTENTIAL DOES EXISTS HOWEVER FOR HEAVY RAIN AMOUNTS THAT COULD HEIGHTEN FLOODING CONCERNS ON RIVERS AND STREAMS. FOR MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY...A CLOSED LOW OVER WESTERN WA/NORTHWEST OREGON MONDAY AFTERNOON WILL TAKE ON A NEGATIVE TILT BY TUESDAY MORNING...WITH THE TROUGH AXIS EXTENDING FROM NW WASHINGTON TO SOUTHEAST OREGON. THIS WILL PLACE CENTRAL AND EASTERN WASHINGTON AS WELL AS NORTH IDAHO IN SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO A SHORT WAVE MOVING UP FROM CENTRAL IDAHO INTO THE AREA. MODELS DISAGREE ON PRECISE IMPACTS FROM THIS WAVE AND CONSISTENCY HAS NOT BEEN GREAT. THE SHRERF DOES A GOOD JOB IN SMOOTHING OUT THE VARYING SOLUTIONS AND HAS TRENDED QUITE A BIT WETTER FOR SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON...LEWISTON/CAMAS PRAIRIE AREA...PALOUSE...AND CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS. THE SHREF SUGGESTS ABOUT A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH OF RAIN IN THESE AREAS. HOWEVER THE PAST SEVERAL NAM RUNS AS WELL AS THE CANADIAN SUGGEST LOCALIZED AMOUNTS OF AN INCH POSSIBLE SO THIS PERIOD WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED IN HOW THIS WOULD IMPACT RIVER LEVELS. IT IS WORTH NOTING HOWEVER THAT THE PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ECMWF IS DRIER WITH A QUARTER INCH OR LESS OF QPF. WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...A STRONG NEGATIVE TILT TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MODELS AGAIN ARE STRUGGLING WITH THE DETAILS BUT GIVING STRENGTH OF THIS FEATURE CONFIDENCE IS HIGH OF WETTING RAINS OVER MOST...IF NOT ALL...OF THE INLAND NORTHWEST. SOME SOLUTIONS ARE VERY WET WITH 00Z GFS AND ECMWF SUGGESTING THE POTENTIAL FOR 1 TO 1.50 INCHES OF QPF OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND THE IDAHO PANHANDLE SO THIS WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED WITH ITS IMPACT ON RIVER RISES. OTHER MODEL RUNS HOWEVER ONLY SHOWN A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH OF QPF WITH A FASTER MOVING TROUGH PASSAGE. THUS ANOTHER LOW CONFIDENCE FORECAST REGARDING RAINFALL AMOUNTS. GFS AND ECMWF ALSO SHOW A TONGUE OF COLDER AIR WITH 850MB TEMPS NEAR 0C EXTENDING FROM THE BLUE MOUNTAINS TO LOOKOUT PASS 12Z THURSDAY. IF THIS MATERIALIZES RAIN MAY CHANGE TO SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS TOWARDS THE TAIL END OF THE HEAVY PRECIPITATION EVENT. FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THE NEXT STRONG CLOSED LOW MOVES TOWARDS THE AREA WITH A MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF THE LOW. LATEST 00Z GFS AND ECMWF RUNS SHOW A FRONTAL BOUNDARY STALLING FROM THE SOUTH OREGON COAST TOWARDS NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. THIS COULD RESULT IN AN AREA OF HEAVY RAINFALL DEPENDING ON THE EXACT POSITION OF THE FRONT. THE PREVIOUS 12Z ECMWF WAS FURTHER OFFSHORE WITH THE LOW AND KEPT THE AREA MOSTLY DRY AND WAS MUCH WARMER THAN CURRENT MODEL RUNS. GIVEN HIGH UNCERTAINTY DID NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES BUT POTENTIAL EXISTS THAT PRECIPITATION CHANCES ARE TOO LOW IF LATEST GFS/ECMWF ARE CORRECT. JW && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS...A SLOW MOVING AND WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TO A LINE FROM KOMK TO KMLP BY 12Z SUNDAY. ALONG AND IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE FRONT NUMEROUS -SHRA WITH MAINLY VFR CEILINGS WILL OCCUR. ALL TAF SITES WILL BE IMPACTED BY THIS FROPA WITH OCCASIONAL SHOWERS TONIGHT...WITH SKIES BECOMING SCT-BKN 040-060 FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST BEHIND THE FRONT. ON SUNDAY THE AIR MASS WILL REMAIN MOIST BUT NOT AS UNSTABLE WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS BUT LITTLE OR NO THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL TAF SITES ON SUNDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET SUNDAY EVENING. /EK && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 64 45 66 45 62 44 / 30 10 10 50 60 20 COEUR D'ALENE 64 43 66 45 59 42 / 40 10 10 60 70 30 PULLMAN 61 43 65 44 60 44 / 20 10 20 70 60 10 LEWISTON 69 47 68 49 66 47 / 10 10 30 70 60 10 COLVILLE 67 45 70 46 66 44 / 80 10 20 40 60 50 SANDPOINT 63 42 66 45 58 41 / 80 10 10 50 70 50 KELLOGG 59 41 64 43 55 41 / 60 10 20 70 70 40 MOSES LAKE 70 44 69 46 71 48 / 10 10 20 30 20 10 WENATCHEE 68 47 68 49 70 48 / 10 10 20 20 20 10 OMAK 69 47 69 48 69 46 / 40 20 20 30 40 20 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. WA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 632 AM PDT SAT MAY 21 2011 IDZ001>004-WAZ031-036>038-042-043-221400- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY- 632 AM PDT SAT MAY 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SEVERAL RIVERS CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH DUE TO RUNOFF FROM ABOVE AVERAGE SNOW PACK IN THE MOUNTAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE SPRING MELT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF THE INLAND NORTHWEST. MOST RIVERS IN EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTHERN IDAHO WILL RUN HIGH FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. IDZ026-027-WAZ032>035-041-044-221400- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-WENATCHEE AREA- WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 632 AM PDT SAT MAY 21 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
On May 22nd, Sinlahekin Road was closed between Fish Lake and Blue Lake due to water and debris flowing over the roadway. The road was later reopened but closed on and off for the next few weeks.
On May 22nd, Salmon Creek Road was closed between Spring Coulee Road and Danker Cut-Off Road due to water and debris flowing over the roadway from Salmon Creek. A combination of high spring runoff and log jams in the creek was responsible for the flooding. The road was later reopened but closed on and off for the next few weeks.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, May 2011
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: 303680, 303681.