A moist cold front passed through eastern Washington bringing mountain snow and valley rain to the region during the early morning hours of January 18th. 46 inches of moderate intensity rain during this event.
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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.
A moist cold front passed through eastern Washington bringing mountain snow and valley rain to the region during the early morning hours of January 18th. A spotter near Metaline Falls reported 0.46 inches of moderate intensity rain during this event. Shortly after the rain ended a mudslide was reported from the area. Over the next few days mild temperatures melted low elevation snow pack and lead to saturated ground conditions triggering isolated mudslides and debris flows in the 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 Jan 18, 10:51 AM PST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1051 AM PST Thu Jan 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A moist frontal system will slowly sag through Idaho and Southeastern Washington today. Cooler air behind the front will allow snow to return on area mountain passes. An active weather pattern will continue into next week with light to moderate snow possible Sunday and again Tuesday into Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION... A cold front moving across the region will get hung up across southeast WA and into the southern to ID Panhandle through the afternoon. This will result in rain for the L-C Valley, the Palouse, Silver Valley, St. Joe River Valley and on the Camas Prairie. Snow levels will remain at or above 4000 feet through this afternoon underneath the precip. There have been some reports with recent rain events of debris flows in steep terrain. I expect we will see the potential for an additional quarter to a half an inch of rain. This will increase the potential for more debris type flows or rock slides. Rain is expected to taper off a bit in the evening, but there is another shortwave disturbance that will move up across the area overnight. This wave was not represented well in the previous forecast. I increased precip chances quite a bit with best chances expected over southeast WA and into the southern to central ID Panhandle. Although, we will see at least some light precip as far as the Northeast Mtns and the Northern Panhandle as well. Snow levels will drop further overnight to between 2000-3000 feet with rain transitioning over to snow at lower elevations. Any valley snow accumulations will likely be light and only up to around an inch possible. Snow may have a hard time actually accumulating on the roads since they are currently running up around the upper 30s to lower 40s. /SVH && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: Rainfall will become hung up along a cold front across southeast WA and into the southern to central ID Panhandle this afternoon. KPUW and KLWS will see a steady does on rain with MVFR conditions. The front will begin to slide southeast of these areas in the evening with a brief period of improving conditions expected. However, there will be another upper level disturbance that pushes across overnight. Temperatures will be cooler with a chance for some snow at KGEG, KSFF, KCOE, and KPUW. KLWS will likely remain as rain with precip remaining east of KEAT and KMWH. /SVH && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 42 30 36 29 36 28 / 10 60 30 20 30 20 Coeur d'Alene 41 31 35 29 36 28 / 50 70 40 30 60 20 Pullman 43 32 39 30 38 30 / 80 80 20 20 60 10 Lewiston 46 35 43 33 42 31 / 80 80 20 20 30 10 Colville 42 31 36 28 36 28 / 10 30 20 40 30 20 Sandpoint 38 31 35 29 34 29 / 60 70 70 40 60 30 Kellogg 38 30 34 28 34 27 / 80 90 60 40 60 40 Moses Lake 47 31 40 29 41 29 / 0 10 10 20 10 10 Wenatchee 41 29 37 29 38 28 / 10 10 10 20 10 10 Omak 39 29 34 27 35 27 / 10 10 10 40 20 20 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 639 AM PST Thu Jan 18 2018 IDZ001>003-026-WAZ031>038-041-043-044-191445- Northern Panhandle-Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-Lewiston Area- Northeast Blue Mountains-Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties- Washington Palouse-Moses Lake Area-Upper Columbia Basin- Spokane Area-Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands- Wenatchee Area-Okanogan Valley-Waterville Plateau- 639 AM PST Thu Jan 18 2018 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...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY The Active weather continues into the weekend with the best chance for widespread snow this coming Sunday. Another wet weather system is also anticipated around Wednesday but timing and strength may change so stay tuned. IDZ004-WAZ042-191445- Central Panhandle Mountains-East Slopes Northern Cascades- 639 AM PST Thu Jan 18 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho and North Central Washington. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Expect higher mountain snow showers along the Cascade crest and North Idaho Panhandle as the active weather continues. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY The Active weather continues into the weekend with the best chance for widespread snow this coming Sunday. Another wet weather system is also anticipated around Wednesday but timing and strength may change so stay tuned. IDZ027-191445- Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties- 639 AM PST Thu Jan 18 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Central Idaho. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A wet weather system Thursday has the potential to produce moderate rainfall which could lead to minor mudslides on steep slopes due to saturated ground. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY The Active weather continues into the weekend with the best chance for widespread precipitation this coming Sunday. Another wet weather system is also anticipated around Wednesday but timing and strength may change so stay tuned.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
A debris flow was reported covering one lane of Highway 31 south of Metaline Falls.
A mudslide on State Route 209 near Colbert closed down one lane of the road until the highway department cleared it.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2018
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: 730409, 730411.