An upper level low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska late on March 8th through the evening of March 9th directed a slow north to south sagging atmospheric river across the area. The origins of this atmospheric river were from off of the Islands of Hawaii.
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The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
An upper level low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska late on March 8th through the evening of March 9th directed a slow north to south sagging atmospheric river across the area. The origins of this atmospheric river were from off of the Islands of Hawaii. This resulted in abnormally high moisture content over the region for early to mid-March. This was a very mild weather pattern with precipitation falling as rain even over the highest mountain peaks. Strong westerly flow resulted in strong orographic enhancement across the mountainous areas of the northern and central Idaho Panhandle. This was combined with good isentropic ascent to produce moderate to heavy rainfall across the area. Mild temperatures resulted in a significant contribution of runoff from the snow pack at mid elevations. This resulted in high flows on the Coeur d'Alene River and along small streams and creeks.
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 Mar 9, 2:14 AM PST, 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 314 AM PDT Sun Mar 9 2014 .SYNOPSIS... One moist storm system will exit the area today with a drying trend over most of the area...but with continued lingering rain showers over the Idaho Panhandle and Palouse. Another wet storm will follow quickly and impact southeast Washington late tonight and Monday. These two systems will combine to likely produce another round of flooding for North Idaho...the Cascades...and extreme eastern Washington. High pressure will then build in for the middle of next week for drier and mild conditions. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Monday...Satellite indicates a very moist Pacific fetch driving into the region from the southwest under the eastern flank of a deep north Pacific trough. Closer in...regional radar suggests that the back edge of this moisture feed in the form of an occluded front is crossing the Cascades at 2 am. Models are in generally good agreement with each other and plausible against satellite and radar in indicating a general end to the steady precipitation this morning north of interstate 90...but the fetch will become somewhat hung up southwest to northeast over the Palouse and points south for a continuation of steady light rain or at least frequent showers through the day. The cascades lee zones will benefit from a rain shadow by this afternoon for mainly dry conditions and a good chance of at least partial sunshine. Conditions will be breezy as a moderate southerly gradient is maintained through much of the day...and this will help keep daytime highs on the mild side of normal once again. With all of the rain last night hydrology issues are once again becoming germane. A number of Areal Flood Advisories have been issued for the zones surrounding the basin and given the general 3/4 to 1 inch of overnight precipitation in the Cascades and north Idaho zones as well as the very high snow levels...these Advisories will continue through this morning. As far as mainstem rivers are concerned...once again it appears the rivers draining the Idaho Panhandle will continue to run near bank full and may approach flood stages early in the week. The Coeur D'Alene at Cataldo and possibly the St.Joe at St. Maries will need to be monitored closely for this potential. Tonight not much will change over this afternoon...with very strong likelihoods of continued rain over the Palouse and L-C valley as the parent Pacific trough moves into the region and digs it's dynamic base region into Oregon...leaving the far southeastern zones on the margin of the moist lift and precipitation shield. On Monday the trough will be moving through the region...once again with the best chance of rain over the southeast...but with the added wrinkle of the inter trough cold pool aloft generating some moderate instability across the forecast area for the threat of hit-and-miss showers and maybe even a few thunderstorms over the rest of the forecast area...with high temperatures once again above normal. /Fugazzi Monday night to Thursday night: An upper trough pulls east early this period and high pressure builds in, leading to an overall drying trend. Monday night the exiting upper trough will begin to shift the overall threat of precipitation toward southeast WA and the central Panhandle, where it will wane early Tuesday. However look for continued breezy conditions before midnight. Thereafter a ridge of high pressure leans over the region. A couple waves slip by late Wednesday to Wednesday night and again later Thursday into Thursday night. However the deeper moisture and lift remains north of the Canadian border until late Thursday. That is when some light shower chances return to the Cascades and eastern mountains. Otherwise expect drier weather with occasional middle and high clouds. In addition, look for the potential for fog during the overnight/early morning hours. This may develop as early as overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, after the winds abate. The main threat will be in the sheltered valley, including the L-C Valley. There is some suggestion it may expand across the Palouse this time frame too. For Tuesday night onward the main threat appears to be in the sheltered valleys. Temperatures will be closer to seasonal norm at the start of the period, then slowly warm above normal into Thursday. /J. Cote' Friday and Saturday: A Pacific High off the coast of California will allow for a ridge pattern in the region for this period. The models seem to be lining up for this scenario. The models do not agree on the timing of a disturbance expected on Saturday morning. Any precip chances are expected to be limited to the higher terrain along the Canadian Border. A weak southerly flow will help keep the region dry and slightly warmer than the season normals. /JDC && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS...A very moist weather system will continue to produce moderate to heavy rainfall at times at the KPUW, KGEG, KSFF and KCOE taf sites through Sunday morning. Expect MVFR cigs and vis by 09Z at all these taf sites. Low level wind shear is expected at most of the TAF sites until cold front passage during the morning hours. Winds will become gusty during the late morning and afternoon hours with sustained speeds up around 20 mph and gusts up to around 30 mph. Drier air behind the front should improve cigs through the afternoon hours as well. /SVH && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 54 37 48 32 47 30 / 60 20 40 20 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 52 36 47 30 47 28 / 90 30 50 20 0 0 Pullman 55 39 49 33 48 30 / 90 70 60 40 0 0 Lewiston 58 43 54 35 54 33 / 90 90 80 50 0 0 Colville 54 33 51 30 51 29 / 50 0 40 10 0 0 Sandpoint 47 35 46 29 46 27 / 100 10 50 20 0 0 Kellogg 46 36 44 30 44 30 / 100 60 80 40 10 10 Moses Lake 59 36 56 33 54 30 / 20 10 20 0 0 0 Wenatchee 54 38 54 33 53 33 / 20 0 10 10 0 0 Omak 55 33 50 31 50 29 / 20 0 10 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 711 PM PST SAT MAR 8 2014 IDZ026-027-WAZ031-032-034-035-038-041-043-044-100315- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS- WENATCHEE AREA-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 711 PM PST SAT MAR 8 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IDZ001>004-WAZ033-036-037-042-100315- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 711 PM PST SAT MAR 8 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ANOTHER WET WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY. RAINFALL COMBINED WITH SOME MID ELEVATION SNOW MELT WILL RESULT IN RISES TO AREA RIVERS AND SMALL STREAMS. MAIN STEM RIVERS DRAINING THE IDAHO PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS WILL RUN HIGH AND SOME LOCATIONS MAY ACHIEVE MINOR FLOOD STAGE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. OTHER HAZARDS MAY INCLUDE MUDSLIDES OR DEBRIS FLOWS AND POSSIBLY SOME DAMAGE TO AREA ROADWAYS IF CULVERTS BECOME CLOGGED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AREA RIVERS AND SMALL STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK...ESPECIALLY IN THE CENTRAL IDAHO PANHANDLE. A SECOND WEATHER SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY NIGHT AND IS EXPECTED TO CLIP THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CENTRAL IDAHO PANHANDLE. AT THIS TIME...THE BULK OF THIS RAINFALL IS ANTICIPATED TO HEAD SOUTH OF THE RIVER BASINS DRAINING OUT OF THE CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Standing water reported across the area. A mobile home park in Ponderay was hardest hit with one trailer inundated with two feet of water inside the home. Damage costs were estimated.
A long duration of heavy rain and snow melt resulted in high flows on the Coeur d'Alene River and surrounding small creeks and streams. Water inundated numerous roads and low lying areas along the river from Cataldo to Harrison: Flood waters inundated CCC Road near the Mennonite Church, Latour Creek Road near a campground immediately south of Interstate 90, and along portions of Dudley Road west of Latour Creek. High flows on Latour Creek resulted in soil erosion near the garage section of a residence on Latour Creek Road. Damage costs were estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2014
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: 505259, 505280.