An atmospheric river of moisture brought near 48 hours of steady rainfall to North Idaho. 48 hour rainfall totals generally varied between one and up to near three inches.
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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 atmospheric river of moisture brought near 48 hours of steady rainfall to North Idaho. 48 hour rainfall totals generally varied between one and up to near three inches.
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 15, 10:58 AM PST, 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1158 AM PDT SUN MAR 15 2015 .SYNOPSIS... More wet weather is in store today and tonight as another low pressure system brings rain to the Pacific Northwest. Most of the region will dry out by Monday afternoon, but more showery weather will be possible Tuesday and Wednesday. Above average temperatures will return Thursday and Friday, followed by the chance for showers again next weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Today and Tonight: A prolonged moderate to heavy rain event is ongoing as a deep surface low off the coast of northern Oregon draws a deep fetch of subtropical moisture over a warm front draped over Washington and north Idaho. As of 11 AM, the surface front was located roughly along the I-90 corridor, and will make slow progress to the north until the surface low jumps the Cascade Crest early this evening. For the remainder of the day, bands of moderate to heavy rain will persist over almost the entire state of Washington and most of north Idaho. The heaviest precipitation axis will likely transition into northeast Washington and far north Idaho during the afternoon. The Spokane airport receieved 0.86 inches of rain in 6 hours this morning (5AM-11AM) which is a remarkable amount considering the 24 hour record for the date is 1.18 inches established in 2012. We may consider an Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory for north Idaho and portions of northeast Washington. This does not look to be a high impact event since the last 4 weeks have been exceedingly dry across the state and our snow pack is very low for this time of year. Base flows in many of our streams and rivers is low, but River Forecast Center forecasts for the Stehekin River and the Coeur D'Alene at Cataldo rise close enough to their respective Action Stages that River Statements were issued for these sites. Tonight, rain will quickly spread eastward as our surface low crosses the Cascades and shears toward Montana. Our attention will turn to a 6 to 9 hour period of gusty winds. The cold front associated with this system will cause low level lapse rates to increase this evening allowing 850mb winds in the 40-45kt range to mix down to the surface as gusts in the 40 to 50 mph range. The strongest gusts will probably occur over the Palouse, Blue Mountains, and West Plains. /GKoch && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: A warm front will lie across the region today and provide the focus for the moderate rain. It will also play havoc to the winds and lead to areas of MVFR/IFR cigs/vsbys close to the boundary. Currently it stretches across the KGEG-KCOE corridor to the KMWH area with light speeds but erratic directions. The warm front will creep northward as a surface low tracks east the Cascades late this afternoon and into southern BC by this evening. This will bring a cold front across the TAF sites this evening and cause winds to switch to the west/southwest and turn gusty. It will also bring an end to the steady rain with drier VFR conditions expected after midnight. Areas of IFR cigs are possible by 12z. /rfox. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 52 40 55 39 55 38 / 100 100 30 10 40 40 Coeur d'Alene 51 39 54 36 55 37 / 100 100 40 10 40 40 Pullman 58 43 57 42 57 39 / 100 100 10 10 40 20 Lewiston 62 47 60 43 60 40 / 90 60 10 10 40 30 Colville 47 42 54 35 56 36 / 100 100 50 10 20 40 Sandpoint 46 41 50 33 52 36 / 100 100 70 10 30 50 Kellogg 50 39 52 36 54 37 / 100 100 50 10 30 40 Moses Lake 55 40 61 40 62 37 / 80 60 10 10 20 20 Wenatchee 52 41 60 42 63 37 / 80 80 10 10 20 10 Omak 47 38 56 36 60 33 / 100 100 20 10 20 30 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 504 AM PDT SUN MAR 15 2015 IDZ002-003-026-027-WAZ032>038-041-043-044-161400- COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 504 AM PDT SUN MAR 15 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST 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-WAZ031-042-161400- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 504 AM PDT SUN MAR 15 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RAIN WILL CONTINUE TODAY AND TONIGHT INCREASING IN INTENSITY AT TIMES. HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE NEAR THE CASCADE CREST AS WELL AS IN THE IDAHO PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS. HEAVY RAIN MAY LEAD TO INCREASED DANGER OF ROCK OR MUD SLIDES IN STEEP TERRAIN. LOW LYING AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE MAY ALSO SEE SOME MINOR FLOODING ISSUES THIS WEEKEND. SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS WILL SEE INCREASED FLOWS. PLEASE SEE OUR WEATHER STORY AT: HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/FXC/WXSTORY.PHP?WFO=OTX .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported a minor rock slide on Highway 97 at mile post 96 near Harrison, Idaho.
Law enforcement reported a small rock slide at Hayden lake road and McInley near Hayden, Idaho.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2015
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: 555481, 555482.