A winter storm produced a swath of heavy snow across the upper Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. Five to 8 inches of snow was observed over the rising terrain of the eastern basin, with generally lower amounts in the 3 to 5 inch range to the west in the deep basin near the Cascade Mountains, and 2 to 3 inches to the east over the Palouse region.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 winter storm produced a swath of heavy snow across the upper Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. Five to 8 inches of snow was observed over the rising terrain of the eastern basin, with generally lower amounts in the 3 to 5 inch range to the west in the deep basin near the Cascade Mountains, and 2 to 3 inches to the east over the Palouse region.
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 Dec 5, 8:34 PM PST, 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
834 PM PST Mon Dec 5 2016
.SYNOPSIS...
Light snow is forecast for the Columbia Basin, Palouse, and
southern Idaho Panhandle tonight as a low pressure system moves
through the area, otherwise expect dry weather with some rather
colder temperatures Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
More snow will be on the way Thursday into Friday, and this snowy
pattern may continue into the weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Evening Update: The winter weather advisory has been upgraded to
a winter storm warning for the Upper Columbia Basin. An upper low
near Vancouver Island this evening will drop southeast towards the
Tri Cities area tonight. Meanwhile a surface low is dropping
towards the WA/OR border. An area of cold cloud tops is evident on
Infrared Satellite over the Upper Columbia Basin with isentropic
lift being maximized around the Ritzville area on the northeast
side of the low center this evening. The past two GFS runs show
this band of snow lingering over the same area through the
overnight hours...which will result in storm total snow
accumulations of 3 to 6 inches for most of the Upper Columbia
Basin with the Lind and Ritzville areas expected to have the
highest totals. A weather spotter at 730 pm this evening reported
already 3 inches has fallen between Ritzville and Washtucna. Mid
level instability with 500mb temperatures down to -39C is likely
also contributed to the increased snow intensities. In
addition...strong lift in the dendritic growth zone is also
resulting in high liquid to snow amount ratios estimated to be
between 15-20:1.
As the upper low drops southeast tonight we will see a period of
light snow mainly overnight into Tuesday morning for the
Palouse...Blue Mountains...Camas Prairie...and Lewiston area with
light accumulations. Some snow is also expected around the Spokane
area tonight but amounts should be light and less than a half
inch. Although with the mid level instability it is possible that
localized higher amounts could occur with radar at 830pm showed a
narrow band of heavier showers near the Chattaroy area. Closer to
the Canadian border only a slight chance of snow is expected with
this system.
Lastly...made a few edits to raise low temps tonight where
extensive cloud cover will limit significant temperature drops. JW
&&
.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS: The next wave will track by the Cascades, then through
Srn WA/Nrn ORE this evening through Tues. Moderate snow has began
to fall at KEAT, with snow just beginning to reach the ground at
KMWH. Expect this snow to expand slowly E through Tues morning,
lowering cigs and vsbys to IFR for KEAT/KMWH/KPUW through Tuesday
morning. The Ern TAF sites may not see steady snow until after
03-06Z. The precipitation threat gradually starts to wane
overnight and especially Tuesday morning from the west. The
Spokane area TAFs will likely fall to MVFR.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 19 24 9 20 11 23 / 50 20 0 0 10 50
Coeur d'Alene 18 23 6 20 8 22 / 20 20 0 0 10 50
Pullman 22 26 12 25 15 26 / 80 50 10 0 10 60
Lewiston 27 30 16 26 16 30 / 80 40 10 0 10 60
Colville 17 24 9 20 9 22 / 20 0 0 0 0 40
Sandpoint 16 20 3 16 5 21 / 10 0 0 0 10 30
Kellogg 14 18 3 15 4 21 / 30 20 10 10 10 50
Moses Lake 24 31 13 26 15 26 / 90 30 0 0 10 70
Wenatchee 22 30 13 24 15 24 / 80 20 0 0 10 70
Omak 19 26 9 22 11 23 / 50 0 0 0 0 60
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 7 AM PST Tuesday for Waterville
Plateau-Wenatchee Area.
Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PST Tuesday for Moses Lake
Area.
Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Tuesday for Upper Columbia
Basin.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 519 AM PST MON DEC 5 2016 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-061400- 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-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 519 AM PST MON DEC 5 2016 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. A COLDER WEATHER PATTERN WILL ARRIVE TODAY WITH LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY IN PLACES LIKE WENATCHEE...MOSES LAKE...RITZVILLE...AND PULLMAN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A COLDER WEATHER PATTERN WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR THE ENTIRE INLAND NORTHWEST IN THE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY TIME FRAME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The COOP observer in Odessa measured 5.5 inches of new snow overnight.
The COOP Observer in Ritzville measured 5.7 inches of snow accumulation overnight December 5th to the early morning of December 6th.
A social media user reported 8 inches of snow fell overnight in Odessa.
A member of the public measured 6 inches of new snow overnight near Lind.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2016
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: 667217, 667214, 667218, 667222.