A Pacific frontal system brought heavy snow to the Cascades from Stevens Pass northward.
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 Cascades from Stevens Pass northward.
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 Mar 16, 2:15 AM PST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
315 AM PDT SAT MAR 16 2013
.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER TROUGH WILL BRING SHOWERS AND COOLER AIR TODAY.
THE COOL SHOWERY AIR MASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY
MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL GIVE A MAINLY DRY SPELL FROM LATER
MONDAY THROUGH MOST OF TUESDAY. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE
LATER TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK WITH WET AND WINDY WEATHER INTO WEDNESDAY.
&&
.SHORT TERM...AN UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE ONSHORE TODAY. THIS WILL
BRING SHOWERS AND COOLER AIR. A CONVERGENCE ZONE IS LIKELY NORTH OF
SEATTLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT BEHIND THE TROUGH PASSAGE. MUCH
OF THE METRO AREA WILL CONTINUE TO BE SOMEWHAT SHADOWED BY THE
OLYMPICS IN WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT.
QPF WITH THE TROUGH SUPPORTS MARGINAL SNOW ADVISORY AMOUNTS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY AT MOUNT BAKER. THE GFS IS THE WETTEST WHILE
THE MESO MODELS AND ECMWF HAVE LESSER AMOUNTS. THE GFS IS PROBABLY A
LITTLE OVERDONE BUT EVEN THE MESO MODEL QPF FORECASTS SUPPORT LOW
END SNOW ADVISORY ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE CASCADES 18Z-06Z. SNOW
LEVELS PROBABLY WILL NOT FALL BELOW 3000 FEET UNTIL THIS EVENING
WHICH MEANS SNOQUALMIE PASS LIKELY WILL NOT SEE ADVISORY AMOUNTS.
THE HIGHER PASSES AND VOLCANOES HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF GETTING
ADVISORY AMOUNTS BY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL TO
1000-1500 FEET BY SUNDAY MORNING. SOME OF THE HIGHER LOWLAND HILLS
COULD SEE SOME SNOW MIXED IN WITH THE SHOWERS DURING THIS TIME.
MOIST AND SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE ONSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. THERE WILL BE A CONTINUED CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR THIS PERIOD
BUT THE MAJORITY OF THIS WILL BE IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE GFS AND NAM
BOTH SHOW AN UPPER SHORT WAVE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ENHANCING
SHOWERS OVER THE AREA MONDAY MORNING. HIGHS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
WILL BE A FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE COOL
UPPER TROUGH. SCHNEIDER
.LONG TERM...ALL MODELS NOW AGREE ON A DRY PERIOD MONDAY NIGHT...AND
PERHAPS INTO THE FIRST PART OF TUESDAY IN BETWEEN WEATHER SYSTEMS.
AN UPPER TROUGH AND FAIRLY VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN
TO ALL AREAS LATER TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...CHANGING TO SHOWERS
WEDNESDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO BRING BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS TO
MOST AREAS AS A SUB 1000 MB SURFACE LOW MOVES ONSHORE SOMEWHERE OVER
SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND STRONG ONSHORE GRADIENTS DEVELOP
BEHIND THE FRONT WEDNESDAY. DRIER AND MORE TRANQUIL WEATHER SHOULD
PREVAIL THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE
AREA. SCHNEIDER
&&
.HYDROLOGY...FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED IN THE NEXT 7 DAYS.
&&
.AVIATION...AN UPPER TROF OFFSHORE WILL MOVE OVER WESTERN WA THIS
AFTERNOON. CONTINUED WLY FLOW ALOFT. ONSHORE FLOW WILL GRADUALLY
INCREASE DURING THE DAY TODAY. A CDFNT OFFSHORE IS EXPECTED TO REACH
THE COAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
MEANWHILE...WIDESPREAD CIGS OF 1-3K FT ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS
MORNING...ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE AREAS OF CIGS BLO 1K FT OVER THE
COAST. THERE WILL BE SOME IMPROVEMENT LATER THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT
AREAS OF VSBYS MAINLY IN THE 3-5SM RANGE DUE TO PRECIPITATION AND/OR
FOG. A PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE SHOULD DEVELOP BETWEEN KPAE AND
KAWO LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
KSEA...CIGS SHOULD REMAIN PRIMARILY IN THE 1-2KT FOOT RANGE THROUGH
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CIGS ARE EXPECTED TO LIFT TO NEAR 4 OR 5K FT
LATER TODAY. WINDS SLY NEAR 10 KT THIS MORNING...BECMG SW 12-15 KT
THIS AFTERNOON WITH GUSTS NEAR 20 KT.
&&
.MARINE...A COLD FRONT OFFSHORE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS
DURING THE DAY TODAY AND ACROSS THE INTERIOR WATERS EARLY THIS
EVENING. MODERATE ONSHORE OR WESTERLY FLOW WILL PREVAIL BEHIND THE
FRONT TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. ONSHORE FLOW WILL WEAKEN SUNDAY NIGHT AND
MON AS HIGH PRES BUILDS OVER THE WASHINGTON COASTAL WATERS.
EXPECT A STRONGER FRONTAL SYSTEM TO IMPACT THE REGION THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF WIDESPREAD GALE FORCE WINDS.
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CASCADES THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COASTAL WATERS 10-60 MILES OFFSHORE...
CENTRAL AND EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...AND PUGET
SOUND AND HOOD CANAL.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
USFS NWAC station at Mt Baker recorded 13 inches of snow during 12-hour period ending ending 5 pm Mar 16, and 21 inches storm-total between 5 am Mar 16 and 1 am Mar 17.
USFS NWAC station at Stevens Pass recorded 14 inches of snow during 12-hour period ending ending 11 pm Mar 16.
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, March 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: 445806, 445807.