Responding to spring time mountain snow melt, the Okanogan River achieved Minor Flood Stage multiple times during the month of May. The river touched Flood Stage briefly on May 8th, then rose above flood stage briefly on May 13th and 14th.
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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.
Responding to spring time mountain snow melt, the Okanogan River achieved Minor Flood Stage multiple times during the month of May. The river touched Flood Stage briefly on May 8th, then rose above flood stage briefly on May 13th and 14th. The main rise occurred on May 23rd and continued to run at Minor Flood through the beginning of June. No structures were flooded but inundation of bottom lands and fields along the river was extensive.
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, 3:27 AM PST, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 427 AM PDT Tue May 23 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Today will be warm with continued rises expected on local rivers and streams in the Cascades and across the Northern Mountains of Washington and Idaho. A strong cold front will plow through the region this evening bringing gusty winds. Breezy winds will usher the cooler air into the region Wednesday knocking temperatures down almost twenty degrees from those expected today. Cooler and unsettled weather will likely persist through the end of the week with a warming trend for the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... ...GUSTY WINDS THIS EVENING/NIGHT WITH PASSAGE OF STRONG COLD FRONT... Today...The ridge aloft flattens while its axis gets pushed to the east and into Montana as a synoptic scale low pressure system approaches the British Columbia Coast. The Lower level thermal ridge remains in place to allow today to remain the warmest day of the seven day forecast. Tonight...A fairly dry cold front passage brings about windy conditions. The feature is expected to show up well on water vapor imagery as an area of intense darkening associated with the lowering of the tropopause as the front passes. Wind gusts along the ridgetops of the Washington Cascades could be upwards of 40-55 mph. Wednesday...Coolest day of the seven day forecast courtesy of the overnight cold front passage (around 20 degrees cooler for most locations) A cool pool aloft does linger overhead for a brief spell and allow for increased lapse rates early in the morning but the atmosphere is initially fairly dry with precipitable water value of one quarter inch, and when the precipitable water does increase to around one half inch during the day the cold pool weakens and warms up. This allows lapse rates to decrease and the atmosphere to stabilize so any pops and qpf that get mentioned are on the low side. /Pelatti Wednesday night through Monday...This period will begin with the upper low that sideswipes the region on Wednesday slowing down and spinning over the Canadian Prairie provinces. A secondary spur trough will drop into the region from the north Wednesday night and Thursday providing some instability under a patch of cool air aloft and setting the stage for isolated to scattered thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening over much of the region. With little shear but 400 to 800 joules of CAPE over the region...these storms will be garden variety but slow moving and capable of producing local downpours. The deep basin stands the best chance of remaining dry with most of the activity focused over the eastern basin and northeast mountains of Washington and the Idaho Panhandle...although the cascades could also see some storms Thursday afternoon and evening. By Friday a strong upper level ridge begins to assert itself...with a small chance of some lingering showers and thunderstorms over southeast Washington and the Panhandle while the rest of the forecast area begins to dry and warm. This ridge will become dominant through the remainder of the extended period with dry conditions, increasingly clear skies and warming temperatures...bringing the prospect of a warm...dry and pleasant Memorial Day weekend for the region. /Fugazzi && .AVIATION... 12Z TAFS: High pressure will remain over the region through Tuesday afternoon. Some high cirrus will move over the region at times. A cold front will move into the region Tuesday night with winds expected to increase out of the southwest after 22z Tuesday. The strongest wind gusts to occur during the evening and overnight hours after 00Z Wednesday. /Pelatti && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 84 48 64 46 65 47 / 0 0 10 10 30 20 Coeur d'Alene 83 47 63 44 63 44 / 0 0 10 10 30 30 Pullman 83 49 63 44 62 44 / 0 0 0 20 30 30 Lewiston 90 53 68 48 68 48 / 0 0 0 20 40 20 Colville 86 48 67 46 68 46 / 0 0 10 10 30 20 Sandpoint 81 44 61 42 63 42 / 0 0 20 10 50 30 Kellogg 81 43 60 42 60 41 / 0 0 20 20 50 30 Moses Lake 92 51 72 47 73 49 / 0 0 0 10 10 10 Wenatchee 90 50 69 48 73 51 / 0 0 0 10 10 10 Omak 88 49 70 47 72 49 / 0 0 10 10 10 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 520 AM PDT Tue May 23 2017 IDZ001-004-WAZ037-241230- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS- 520 AM PDT Tue May 23 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho and Northeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Warm temperatures will increase the mountain snow melt. This will lead to rises on area rivers and streams. A cold front passage will allow for windy conditions tonight and Wednesday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A chance of thunderstorms is possible on Thursday. IDZ002-003-026-027-WAZ031>036-044-241230- COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-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- WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 520 AM PDT Tue May 23 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... North Central Idaho...Central Washington...East Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A cold front passage will allow for windy conditions tonight and Wednesday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY It will be windy Wednesday. A chance of thunderstorms is possible Thursday. WAZ038-041>043-241230- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- OKANOGAN VALLEY- 520 AM PDT Tue May 23 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Warm temperatures will increase the mountain snow melt. This will lead to rises on area rivers and streams. In addition A cold front passage will allow for windy conditions tonight and Wednesday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY It will be windy Wednesday.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Okanogan River Gage at Tonasket recorded a rise above the Flood Stage of 15.0 feet at 7:30 AM PST on May 23rd. The river crested multiple times in Minor Flood around 16.5 feet and continued to flood into the month of June.
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, May 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: 699684.