A warmer than average Memorial Day weekend coupled with low pressure allowed for the formation of an unusual amount of dust devils.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
A warmer than average Memorial Day weekend coupled with low pressure allowed for the formation of an unusual amount of dust devils.
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 May 23, 1:26 PM PST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 226 PM PDT SAT MAY 23 2015 .SYNOPSIS... The Memorial Day Weekend is expected to be warmer than average, with afternoon temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Look for scattered showers and thunderstorms this weekend into next week. Some thunderstorms will be capable of producing heavy downpours and frequent lightning. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight and Sunday: Our next round of pcpn, diurnally driven, has began to produce a few lightning strikes in the high Cascades near the BC border as well as over the Camas Prairie region of Idaho. A decent amnt of sun has contributed to higher SBCAPE this afternoon. Though there will be a short- wave trough (currently upstream near the BC coast) that will move south across the region by Sunday, it looks like it won't have a significant contribution synoptically for the thunder threat in the Cascades tonight. This will be an important issue this evening and Sunday given the recent burn scar potential for debris flow. As of now, we don't anticipate an issues. We also left thunder in the fcst for SE WA and the Cntrl Idaho Panhandle tonight and Sunday as the wave approaches and the sfc remains uncapped. There's sufficient convective inhibition, or even lack of CAPE altogether, across NE Wa and the N Idaho Panhandle that thunder does not look like a significant threat. The areal coverage of thunder will be greater Sunday versus today, and gap winds near the Cascades may become gusty Sunday evening. bz Sunday night through Tuesday: The Inland NW remains unsettled with some threat of showers and thunderstorms each day. Early this period (Sunday night into Monday) low pressure initially centered near southwest BC sags south across northwest Okanogan county toward the Kittitas Valley/lee of the Cascades. This places much of central and eastern WA and north ID in the favorable lift on the northeast side of the low. First between Sunday night and Monday morning the SBCAPE wanes with the loss of heating. Yet some elevated instability (High Level Total Totals and pockets of elevated CAPE) migrates over the northern mountains and upper Columbia Basin. Tack on decent moisture (PWATs around 125 to 150% of normal) there will be a good threat for showers and even some thunder through this period. The highest threat will be across eastern Okanogan county through the northern ID Panhandle, but chances will also spread across the Columbia Basin through the central Panhandle. Slight or lower chances will be found elsewhere. By Monday afternoon the SBCAPE expands again and the threat of more scattered to numerous showers/t-storms expands. Models still place some of the higher precipitation amounts in and around the northern WA and ID Panhandle mountains and secondarily along the highway 2 corridor and near the Camas Prairie. For the lower Columbia Basin into the Palouse, however, models show a dry slot wrapping in. This should keep the threat of showers lower. Monday night into Tuesday the center of the low swings toward toward the WA/ID border. Similar to the trend of the 24 hours prior, SBCAPE wanes at night but a fair amount of elevated instability continues within the core of the low, before being revitalized in the afternoon heating. So look for a decrease, but not end, in the shower/t-storm coverage at night and an expansion again through Tuesday afternoon. In the midst of this low, shear and overall storm motion will be light, especially away from the Cascades. Thus there will be the potential for some slow-moving shower/t-storms and locally heavy downpours. We will have to monitor the situation for localized flooding concerns. A few storms may also produce some hail. Temperatures in general are expected to cool under the low, with highs closer to seasonal norms or a degree or two above. Tuesday night through Saturday: models are in some agreement in tracking the low slowly east while another trough approaches the coast late week. This, plus minor impulses riding in on the developing north to westerly flow behind the first low, will work with continued afternoon instability to keep the cycle of shower and thunderstorm chances alive. This means an increasing chance for isolated to scattered activity each afternoon, then waning for the night hours. On a whole, the best chances will retreat to the mountains from day-to-day until Saturday. By then that next trough may revitalize the shower/t-storm threat region-wide again. Temperatures are also projected to undergo a relative warming trend with the low moving east. /J. Cote' && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: The most immediate concern is the canopy of MVFR stratus from KLWS north to KPUW...and just south of the Spokane county line. This SW upslope stratus is visually transitioning to more of a convective appearance on satellite, and in the process of eroding on its periphery. Given the amnt of heating we expect today, we don't anticipate these MVFR ceilings to linger much longer past 20-21z. The next issue will be the areal coverage of any showers or thunder late afternoon into early evening. The best chance will be in the Lewiston region, which includes the Nrn Blue mtns and the Camas Prairie of Idaho. The isolated thunder will dissipate by 03z.bz && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 51 79 55 71 51 72 / 10 10 30 50 50 50 Coeur d'Alene 51 80 53 70 49 71 / 10 10 30 60 50 60 Pullman 46 74 49 70 45 70 / 20 10 10 30 20 40 Lewiston 53 81 56 77 52 77 / 30 10 20 20 20 30 Colville 51 83 52 72 50 74 / 10 20 50 70 60 60 Sandpoint 47 79 51 70 48 70 / 0 10 30 60 50 60 Kellogg 48 78 50 71 47 71 / 10 10 20 60 40 70 Moses Lake 53 83 55 79 54 79 / 10 20 20 20 20 30 Wenatchee 57 82 58 78 57 78 / 20 20 20 20 20 30 Omak 51 83 52 76 51 77 / 20 40 40 50 40 50 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KOTX 618 AM PDT SAT MAY 23 2015 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>037-041-043-044-241330- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-WENATCHEE AREA-OKANOGAN VALLEY- WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 618 AM PDT SAT MAY 23 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...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Low pressure will drop into the region Sunday afternoon and linger over the region into at least the early part of next week. This weather system will result in afternoon and evening thunderstorms across much of the region. Thunderstorms will be slow moving and will likely contain heavy downpours. Heavy rain will increase the risk for flash flooding or debris flows, especially for areas in steep terrain. WAZ038-042-241330- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 618 AM PDT SAT MAY 23 2015 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Low pressure will drop into the region Sunday afternoon and linger over the region into at least the early part of next week. This weather system will result in afternoon and evening thunderstorms across much of the region. Thunderstorms will be slow moving and will likely contain heavy downpours. Heavy rain will increase the risk for flash flooding or debris flows, especially in and around recent burn scars or in steep terrain.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
Broadcast Media relayed a report of roof damage to the senior center on the South Hill of Spokane, WA.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, May 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: 568628.