Ice jam on the north fork of the Ahtanum Creek caused flooding in central Yakima county.
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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 PDT wrote it up.
Ice jam on the north fork of the Ahtanum Creek caused flooding in central Yakima county.
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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 10, 4:00 AM PST, 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated National Weather Service Pendleton OR 400 AM PST Fri Feb 10 2017 Updated Aviation Discussion and Watches/Warnings/Advisories section .SHORT TERM...Today through Sunday...An upper level low off the WA coast is moving northeast and filling. Temperatures are still quite warm, mainly upper 30s and 40s except in the Kittitas Valley where it is in the mid 20s. This has led to rapid snow melt and a few flooding issues. See the Hydrology section below for a discussion of these issues. Radar continues to show showery activity in the Blue Mountains though precipitation amounts are light. The low will come ashore as a weak wave that will trigger a few showers this afternoon in the mountains and central to NE OR. A few showers may linger in the mountains Saturday. Snow levels will start around 3500-4000 feet this morning then drop to 1000-2000 by Saturday morning. Precipitation amounts will be light and snow will be limited to an few inches in the mountains. Saturday an upper level ridge will build near the coast and shift slowly east. Subsidence from the ridge will keep the area dry with mostly clear skies Saturday night and Sunday. Radiational cooling Saturday night will drop morning lows to the teens and 20s. Surface inversions will strengthen due to the ridge and patchy fog may develop in the Lower Columbia Basin Sunday morning, especially near rivers. 76 .LONG TERM...Sunday night through Thursday...An upper level ridge will be over the Pacific Northwest Sunday through Monday night. Thus expect dry conditions with some patchy late night and morning fog at the lowest elevations. Temps will generally be seasonal across the area, though high temps should be a bit cooler than seasonal at the lowest elevations due to the fog. This fog could be potentially difficult to dissipate depending upon the amount of existing residual snow cover. A weak system may try to break into the ridge late Monday night or Tuesday. There remain difference between the mid range models concerning this system, with the GFS currently being the most adamant about it's occurrence. For now will opt for the slower/drier ECMWF solution. Conditions look to become more active Wednesday and Thursday. There continue to be differences in the handling of the details, but overall should see some precip at most locations. Will continue the current broad brush forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. Snow levels should generally be higher, and more typical for this time of year. Will have to watch for spotty freezing rain occurrences in the Columbia Basin though, but for now will not mention. 90 && .AVIATION...12z TAFS...Should see VFR conditions at all sites during the next 24 hours. The one exception will be KDLS where some fog or mist can be expected this morning. This site remains trapped within what is left of the cold, moist low level air mass. Do not expect this site to mix out until around noon. A few light showers may drift over KDLS early in this period. With surface temps around 30 degrees, these showers will be in the form of freezing rain. Showers will then linger over the adjacent benches mid morning through the afternoon. All other sites have now mixed out with south to southwest winds of 10 to 15 kts and higher gusts expected at various times today and/or tonight. KRDM will at times see light northerly winds this morning. These northerly winds are the result of rotor action and some low level mechanical turbulence should be anticipated. KPDT and KALW will see a few showers at times to the immediate east as they develop and move north-northeast along the front of the Blue Mountains. 90 && .HYDROLOGY...A flood watch for portions of northeast Oregon and southeast Washington will continue until Friday morning as very warm temperatures are noted over the mountains with a few showers yet to move through. The John Day River is forecast to rise just above flood stage this morning before it crests this afternoon. There has been some rapid snowmelt occurring through the Grande Ronde Valley, with some local flooding in Union and Elgin, with a Flood Advisory through mid day Friday. Somewhat cooler air will be filtering in on Friday to decrease snowmelt. 76 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 45 31 42 27 / 20 10 10 0 ALW 48 33 43 29 / 20 20 10 0 PSC 47 29 44 26 / 10 10 10 0 YKM 44 24 42 24 / 10 10 10 0 HRI 47 30 44 26 / 10 10 10 0 ELN 40 25 39 21 / 20 10 10 0 RDM 46 22 40 19 / 20 10 10 0 LGD 45 28 38 21 / 50 30 20 0 GCD 47 26 40 21 / 40 20 10 0 DLS 45 32 44 27 / 20 20 10 0 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. WA...None. && 76/90/90
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After a brief warm up on 2/9/2017, an ice jam formed and broke loose on the North Fork of the Ahtanum Creek in central Yakima county. The ice moved downstream damaging five homes with water and structural damage. One family was displaced.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 683375.