A Pacific frontal system brought heavy snow to the Mt Baker area of the North Cascades.
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 SEW wrote it up.
A Pacific frontal system brought heavy snow to the Mt Baker area of the North 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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 3:50 PM PST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED AVIATION SECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
350 PM PST SUN FEB 24 2013
.SYNOPSIS...A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT WILL ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT
GIVING RAIN...WINDY CONDITIONS...AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. WINDY CONDITIONS
AND COOL MOIST ONSHORE FLOW WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT ON MONDAY. WHILE
IT WILL BE MOSTLY CLOUDY ON TUESDAY...IT WILL BE MAINLY DRY AS A
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. WEAKER FRONTS WILL
GIVE SOME RAIN AT TIMES TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A PROGRESSIVE WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
THROUGH MUCH OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. THE MAIN PROBLEM OF THE DAY IS A
DEVELOPING AND RAPIDLY MOVING FRONT AND ASSOCIATED LOW...THE ONE
SEEN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY NEAR 132W AT 230 PM...AS IT MOVES ONSHORE
LATE TONIGHT. IT WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA TONIGHT
INTO MONDAY...AND LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW TO THE CASCADES.
CONCERNING THAT OFFSHORE FRONT...MODEL TIMING HAS GENERALLY
CONVERGED TO A FRONTAL PASSAGE AROUND 07Z ON THE COAST AND 09Z OVER
THE CASCADES. ALL OF THE GLOBAL AND MESOSCALE MODELS EMPHASIZE WINDS
TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF THE FAST-MOVING 999-1002 MB LOW AS IT MOVES
ONTO CENTRAL VANCOUVER ISLAND THEN EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH
COLUMBIA. THE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS BLAST INLAND BETWEEN 12Z AND
15Z...THEN TAKE MOST OF THE DAY ON MONDAY TO DIMINISH. THE 18Z NAM12
HAS FALLEN IN LINE WITH THE VERY RELIABLE ECMWF SOLUTION IN SHOWING
WNW WINDS OF 55 KT AT 925 MB OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND THROUGH THE
STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA. THIS WOULD CORRELATE WELL WITH GUSTS TO 55
MPH IN PLACES ALONG THE STRAIT AND PORTIONS OF THE COAST AS MOMENTUM
MIXES DOWNWARD IN STRONG COLD ADVECTION. LOCAL GUSTS 50-55 MPH CAN
ALSO BE EXPECTED FROM EVERETT AND SEATTLE SOUTHWESTWARD TO NEAR
OLYMPIA...TO THE SOUTHEAST OF A LEE SIDE LOW OFF THE OLYMPICS...
THROUGH THE CHEHALIS GAP...AND FROM ABOUT BELLINGHAM SOUTHWESTWARD
THROUGH THE SAN JUANS AND WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY. LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY
PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL LIKELY KEEP THE WESTERLIES FROM REACHING
HIGH WIND CRITERIA ALONG THE WEST COAST OF WHIDBEY ISLAND...THOUGH
IT WILL BE CLOSE. A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE
FRONT...THEN WITH STRONG POST FRONTAL ONSHORE FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT
ON MONDAY. BUT SOME ENTRAINMENT OF DRY AIR FROM ALOFT BEHIND THE
FRONT WILL MOST LIKELY LIMIT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY CRITERIA.
A PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE MAY FORM LATE MONDAY OR MONDAY
EVENING AS PRESSURE GRADIENTS RELAX. BUT CONDITIONS WILL DRY LATE
MONDAY NIGHT AS A WEAK RIDGE AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT APPROACHES.
TUESDAY WILL LIKELY BE A DRY DAY THROUGH IT WILL BE CLOUDY. THERE IS
SOME CHANCE THAT PRECIPITATION AHEAD OF A FRONT THAT MOVES INLAND
LATE TUESDAY NIGHT WILL REACH THE NORTH COAST LATE IN THE DAY.
TUESDAY NIGHT WILL SEE CLOUDS AND ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AS A
WEAKENING FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. POST FRONTAL SHOWERS WILL
PREVAIL ON WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE DAY. ALBRECHT
.LONG TERM...GLOBAL MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A MEAN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN US STARTING THURSDAY AND CONTINUING
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THURSDAY THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY WILL BE WET AS A
WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH ACROSS THE AREA. DRYING LIFTS IN FROM THE
NORTH STARTING FRIDAY. TODAYS MODEL SOLUTIONS THOUGH SHOW A WRINKLE
AS A SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVES THROUGH THE RIDGE POSITION AND ACROSS
THE AREA LATER SATURDAY INTO EARLY SUNDAY. THERE ARE ENOUGH ENSEMBLE
MEMBERS THAT SHOW A WARM AND DRY DAY ON SATURDAY THAT RAIN CHANCES
WERE LIMITED TO THE COAST AND NORTH INTERIOR AT THIS TIME.
TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY RISE WELL INTO THE 50S BOTH FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY...THEN SOME COOLING WAS INDICATED BEHIND THE SHORT WAVE
TROUGH ON SUNDAY. ALBRECHT
&&
.HYDROLOGY...RIVER FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED THE NEXT 7 DAYS. ALBRECHT
&&
.AVIATION...AN UPPER TROUGH APPROACHING THE PAC NW THIS EVENING WILL
PRODUCE MODERATE TO STRONG SW FLOW ALOFT. BOTH THE UPPER TROUGH AND
SURFACE FRONT WILL QUICKLY PUSH THROUGH WRN WA LATER TONIGHT WITH A
SWITCH TO MODERATE W TO SW FLOW ALOFT THROUGH MONDAY. THE FLOW WILL
BECOME LIGHTER AND NWLY MONDAY NIGHT. BECOMING GENERALLY MOIST AT
ALL LEVELS THROUGH THE EVENING WITH LIGHT RAIN ALONG THE COAST AND
FAR N SPREADING SE THROUGH THE AREA LATER THIS EVENING AS THE FRONT
APPROACHES. RAIN BECOMING SHOWERY BEHIND THE FRONT...WITH RAIN
SHADOWING LIKELY TO MINIMIZE PRECIPITATION AT KSEA/KBFI ON MONDAY.
MVFR CIGS/VIS TO THE N AND W OF PUGET SOUND WILL BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF WRN WA AS RAIN INCREASES THROUGH THE
EVENING. A MIX OF MVFR AND VFR IS EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT MONDAY
UNDER A SHOWERY REGIME.
KSEA...SLY WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH EVENING ALONG AND BEHIND A
FRONT EXPECTED TO PASS THE TERMINAL 08-10Z. GUSTS COULD REACH 40
KNOTS FROM LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING. EXPECT A
SWITCH FROM SLY WINDS TO SWLY BEHIND THE FRONT. MVFR CIGS WILL
BECOME DOMINATE THIS EVENING WITH RAIN INCREASING AFTER 6 PM.
ADJUSTMENTS TO TAF MADE REGARDING WIND AND PRECIP TIMING.
3000 FT WINDS AND TIMING AT KSEA...7 PM S 35 KNOTS
10 PM S 45 KNOTS
1 AM SW 45-50 KNOTS
4 AM WSW 40 KNOTS
DTM
&&
.MARINE...S/SE GRADIENTS ARE INCREASING ACROSS THE WATERS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH
SOLID GALE FORCE WINDS EXPECTED OVER THE COASTAL WATERS...ENTRANCES
TO THE STRAIT...AND THE N INTERIOR THIS EVENING. POST FRONTAL LATE
TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING...SW GALES SHOULD DEVELOP IN PUGET
SOUND...AND HIGH-END WLY GALES DOWN THE STRAIT. GRADIENTS WILL
SLOWLY RELAX MONDAY AFTERNOON BUT WINDS IN PUGET SOUND AND THE
STRAIT WILL BE SLOW TO EASE. BY LATER MONDAY EVENING...RESIDUAL
GALES IN THE STRAIT WILL DIMINISH. EVENTUALLY SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE
WILL BRING LIGHT GRADIENTS TO THE AREA LATER MONDAY NIGHT SO WINDS
SHOULD GENERALLY SUBSIDE BELOW 20 KT.
ANOTHER WEAKER FRONT WILL AFFECT THE WATERS LATE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY
NIGHT. DTM
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...WIND ADVISORY ALL LOWLAND ZONES THROUGH 4 PM PST MONDAY.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE NORTH AND CENTRAL
CASCADES TO 4 PM PST MONDAY.
PZ...GALE WARNING ALL WATERS.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML.1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
USFS NWAC station at Mt Baker recorded 22 inches of snow during 26-hour period.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, February 2013
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: 438022.