An upper level low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska late on March 8th into 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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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.
An upper level low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska late on March 8th into 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 for early to mid-March. This was a very mild weather pattern with precipitation falling as rain even over the highest mountain peaks. Moderate to heavy rain was reported in the Northeast Mountains, especially for areas closer to the Idaho border.
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, 10:08 AM PST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 1108 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... Update was to increase chance of precip for eastern WA and north ID. Temperatures remained quite mild overnight for extreme eastern WA and north ID and are several degrees away from their forecasted max temp. With brief partial clearing later this afternoon it is possible to warm up to the mid 50s to near 60, depending on where you are. Locations east of the Cascades are already beginning to clear. Models are developing a surface low over eastern WA this evening. Depending on its tracking, it could mean steady -ra this evening for portions of Spokane/COE. Continuing to look at models for the evening and overnight forecast. /Nisbet && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS...-RA to continue for most of SE WA and north ID through at least 21z before becoming more scattered. The KEAT and KMWH TAF sites will benefit from a precipitation shadow off the Cascades. A second storm system will bring another strong likelihood of steady -RA to the KLWS and KPUW TAF sites overnight tonight. Some models showing surface low developing and the potential for steady -ra around KGEG/KSFF/KCOE through the evening hrs. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 54 37 48 32 47 30 / 60 20 40 20 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 55 36 47 30 47 28 / 60 30 50 20 0 0 Pullman 55 39 49 33 48 30 / 80 70 60 40 0 0 Lewiston 59 43 54 35 54 33 / 80 90 80 50 0 0 Colville 54 33 51 30 51 29 / 30 0 40 10 0 0 Sandpoint 51 35 46 29 46 27 / 60 10 50 20 0 0 Kellogg 46 36 44 30 44 30 / 90 60 80 40 10 10 Moses Lake 59 36 56 33 54 30 / 10 10 20 0 0 0 Wenatchee 54 38 54 33 53 33 / 10 0 10 10 0 0 Omak 55 33 50 31 50 29 / 10 0 10 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 1041 AM PDT SUN MAR 9 2014 WAZ034-035-038-041-043-044-101745- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS- WENATCHEE AREA-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 1041 AM PDT SUN MAR 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. IDZ001>004-WAZ033-036-037-042-101745- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 1041 AM PDT SUN MAR 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ANOTHER WET WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE AREA THROUGH TODAY. 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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 TONIGHT 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. IDZ026-027-WAZ031-032-101745- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- 1041 AM PDT SUN MAR 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ANOTHER WET WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE LASTING THROUGH MONDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN RISES IN AREA RIVERS AND SMALL STREAMS. 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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
The southbound lane of State Route 31 at milepost 11 was blocked by a combination of mud and large rocks. Time of the debris flow was estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 505266.