An unusually wet month featuring numerous rain storms and the melt off of low elevation snow produced saturated soil conditions and promoted road washouts and minor debris flows which locally affected transportation around the region between February 16th and the end of the month.
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.
An unusually wet month featuring numerous rain storms and the melt off of low elevation snow produced saturated soil conditions and promoted road washouts and minor debris flows which locally affected transportation around the region between February 16th and the end of the month.
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 Feb 25, 4:24 AM PST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 424 AM PST Sat Feb 25 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Snow will return to the Inland Northwest tonight, Sunday, and Monday. A prolonged period of snow showers will have the potential to produce significant accumulations for the Idaho Panhandle and portions of southeast and east central Washington. Chilly temperatures will linger through Tuesday. A windy weather pattern will be possible Wednesday through Saturday. && .DISCUSSION... ...WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT... SUNDAY...AND MONDAY... Today: It will be another chilly day for the Inland Northwest. We have entered late February and our high temperatures should be in the low to mid 40s. The best we will be able to muster this afternoon will be the 30s for most areas. Scattered snow showers are expected throughout the day over the Idaho Panhandle, but not as widespread as they were yesterday. A transient high pressure ridge will build over the Pacific Northwest today, but there will be enough shallow instability for convective snow showers for Kellogg, St Maries, Lookout Pass, and over the high terrain around Sandpoint. Areas of fog around Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, and Davenport should dissipate by mid to late morning. With chilly temperatures aloft, our morning inversion will be relatively weak. We will also see increasing southwest winds improving low level mixing by afternoon ahead of low pressure moving in tonight. Tonight through Sunday Night: A slow moving low pressure system will arrive tonight and linger over the Inland Northwest through Monday. The evening model runs are in decent agreement that the center of a 500mb low will track southward along the B.C. coast overnight reaching the Washington coast by early Sunday morning. After midnight, the Inland Northwest will be under an increasingly difluent flow aloft as a surface pressure trough develops over south central and southeast Washington. Light snow accumulations will be possible region-wide from the pre-dawn hours Sunday through Sunday evening. At this time it looks like the best combination of moist isentropic ascent, low level surface convergence in the vicinity of the developing surface trough, and steepening lapse rates will occur over the Palouse, Spokane area, and the central Idaho Panhandle from early Sunday morning through Sunday afternoon. If these elements come together as advertised, accumulations of 2 to 4 inches will be possible for the aforementioned areas with localized accumulations of 6 inches or more. The convective (showery) nature of the snow on Sunday will contribute to high variability in snow amounts. With 500mb temperatures in the -32C to -34C range, some spots under the heaviest snow showers could receive upwards of an inch per hour Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. Travel will likely be treacherous Sunday morning with road temperatures below freezing. Daytime warming on Sunday may lead to wet or slushy road conditions on well traveled roads during the afternoon with high temps in the low to mid 30s. The models suggest that snow showers will become less concentrated over eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle Sunday night as the heart of the upper trough dives into Oregon. However, our temperatures aloft will remain cold enough for localized moderate to heavy snow showers. The combination of falling road temps and additional accumulations will raise concerns for treacherous driving conditions Sunday evening through Monday morning. /GKoch Monday through Thursday...Interval starts out with a cold trof containing conditionally unstable air lingers over the Pacific Northwest. A clutter of shortwave disturbances dropping down northwest to southeast in the flow will favor the highest pops over extreme Southeast Washington and the North Idaho Panhandle Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday night through Thursday the flow becomes more zonal and the jet stream is drapped across northern border and as such the wind is substantially increased allowing for quite windy and gusty conditions. The positioning of this upper level jet will also favor a snow shadow off the Cascade Crest that extends across the Columbia Basin and some lowlands in the periphery. Forecast temperatures on the cold side of normal for this time of year remain valid with the cold trof Monday through Tuesday followed by the mixing brought about by the close proximity of the jet stream allows for warming resulting in temperatures closer to or slightly on the warm side of normal Tuesday night into Thursday. /Pelatti Friday and Saturday...The region remains in west-northwesterly flow aloft during this period with a strong jet stream that will work its way overhead by late Friday and into Saturday. As far as precipitation, this would favor the Cascade crest and Idaho Panhandle for the bulk of the precipitation with a decent rain shadow in the Basin. Perhaps the bigger issue however will be the wind potential during this period. Models show the main wave pass to our north with associated deepening surface low over BC and Alberta and trailing cold front. This leads to a sharp tightening of the pressure gradient, which combined with the strong momentum aloft, could lead to a windy scenario late next week and early weekend. Continued the trend of increasing wind over the previous forecast, but may still be too conservative if current model solutions end up verifying. Certainly something that will be monitored over the next week. /Kalin && .AVIATION... 12Z TAFs: A ragged fog deck around Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, and Grand Coulee has been in and out of the airports since before midnight. With cold air aloft, our inversion has been weak fostering disorganized and transient fog and low stratus. We should see fog disperse by mid to late morning with the relatively weak inversion and increasing boundary layer winds. Mixing will be on the increase through the afternoon ahead of an approaching low pressure system. Bands of snow showers are expected in the 06z-12z time frame with a couple inches of accumulation possible by sunrise Sunday at Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, and Pullman. /GKoch && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 32 24 33 24 33 20 / 10 80 90 60 40 20 Coeur d'Alene 33 23 32 23 34 16 / 20 80 90 70 50 50 Pullman 34 26 33 24 35 22 / 10 60 100 60 70 60 Lewiston 41 29 37 28 40 28 / 10 30 70 60 60 50 Colville 34 23 34 18 34 18 / 10 50 60 40 30 20 Sandpoint 32 23 32 23 33 18 / 20 70 90 60 60 40 Kellogg 30 24 31 25 32 21 / 30 80 100 80 80 80 Moses Lake 36 24 37 18 38 21 / 0 50 70 40 20 20 Wenatchee 35 24 37 20 35 21 / 0 30 70 40 20 20 Omak 34 23 35 19 35 18 / 0 50 60 30 10 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 541 AM PST Sat Feb 25 2017 IDZ001>004-027-WAZ031-033-035>038-261500- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN- SPOKANE AREA-NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS- 541 AM PST Sat Feb 25 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... North Central Idaho...East Central Washington...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Accumulating snow is expected late tonight over the Idaho Panhandle...Northeast Washington...the Palouse...Upper Columbia Basin...and Spokane area. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Periods of light to moderate snow are expected to persist through Monday night. Motorists should anticipate treacherous driving conditions Sunday morning...Sunday night...and Monday morning. IDZ026-WAZ032-261500- LEWISTON AREA-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- 541 AM PST Sat Feb 25 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central Idaho and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Light snow accumulations will be possible late tonight in the Lewiston Clarkston Valley and Southeast Washington. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY More light snow accumulations will be possible Sunday...Sunday Night...and Monday over Southeast Washington and the Lewiston Clarkston Valley. WAZ034-041>044-261500- MOSES LAKE AREA-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 541 AM PST Sat Feb 25 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of Central Washington...East Central Washington and North Central Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Light snow accumulations will be possible tonight over central and north central Washington. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Additional light snow accumulations are expected Sunday.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
East Cape Horn Road near Bayview was washed out cutting off residents for two days while crews repaired the road and removed mud and debris.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2017
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: 682534.