Spring time snow melt and moderate rain over the area created saturated soil conditions which caused a debris flow across the southbound lanes of State Route 21 near Curlew.
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.
Spring time snow melt and moderate rain over the area created saturated soil conditions which caused a debris flow across the southbound lanes of State Route 21 near Curlew.
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 Mar 19, 3:54 AM PST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 454 AM PDT Mon Mar 19 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Isolated to scattered showers will linger over northeast Washington and in the Idaho Panhandle today. Tomorrow will be the first official day of spring and will feature the mildest and driest weather of the week. A vigorous frontal system is expected to bring widespread precipitation and windy weather Wednesday night into Thursday followed by chilly and showery conditions Friday into the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Today and tonight: This morning a weak line of residual showers is draped from about Republic to Clark Fork, slowly weakening and shifting east out of the area. Water vapor satellite shows low clouds along the northern forecast area associated with those showers and a mid level deck as far south as Spokane. Otherwise most of the region is under clear skies which will continue today as the air mass begins to dry out. This afternoon a shortwave dropping southeast from BC will clip the northeast corner of the forecast area bringing scattered showers to the mountains of northeast Washington and the northern Idaho Panhandle, as well as extreme southeast Washington and the central Panhandle. With these showers could be a few lightning strikes and some graupel showers, given that the marginal instability on Sunday was able to produce a few strikes, and today looks even a bit better with MUCAPE values potentially up to 250-300 J/kg. A few of these showers may make it as far south as the Spokane/CDA corridor this afternoon before tapering off with the sunset. Tuesday: Tuesday will be a dry day, the driest of the forecast as we sit under zonal flow between systems. The only chance from a hit and miss shower will be over the mountains of north Idaho. /bw Wednesday through Friday night: An upper trough with an associated closed low will drop south off the BC coast Wednesday and put the region in an increasingly moist southwest flow aloft. A cutoff low near 35N/142W off the California coast will get picked up by the trough which will further add to the moisture content within this flow. The wettest period appears to be Wednesday night into Thursday as the cold front tracks from west to east through the region. *Rain and mountain snow totals: Most of the precipitation will fall along and ahead of the cold front when snow levels are rather high in the 4000-6000 foot range. Models show a prolonged period of southeast upslope flow into the Cascades, with models showing the highest precip totals from this storm in the Methow Valley, Lake Chelan, and surrounding mountains with 1-1.5 inches of liquid precipitation possible. GFS even hints at higher amounts approaching 2 inches. This could translate to moderate to heavy snow accumulations in the mountains above 4000-5000 feet. Elsewhere models show 0.50-1.00 inch of precipitation for NE Washington into the Idaho Panhandle with 0.25-0.50 inch elsewhere. *Winds: A strong cold front passage Thursday will lead to increasing winds. Breezy southeast winds on the palouse Thursday morning ahead of the front will be replaced by more widespread breezy to locally windy conditions Thursday afternoon and evening with the cold front passage as pressure gradients tighten and 850mb winds increase to 30-40 kts. GFS soundings show wind gusts in the 25-35 mph range across the Columbia Basin, Spokane area, Palouse with isolated stronger gusts to 40 mph possible. Exposed mountain ridge tops will become windy as well. On Friday into Friday night a cool and showery air mass moves over the region with low snow levels...ranging from 2000-3000 feet Friday afternoon before dropping to the valley floors Friday night. The best chances for snow accumulations will be in the mountains with travel impacts possible especially in the Cascades and Idaho Panhandle. JW Saturday: The medium range models agree that a broad cold upper level trough will reside over the Pacific Northwest on Saturday. The ECMWF and GFS suggest 500mb temperatures in the -34C to -36C range. Mid-level temperatures this cold will yield convective showers especially over the mountains of the Idaho Panhandle and over the Cascades. This type of late March pattern has the potential to produce localized lowland snow accumulations during the overnight hours. But during the daytime hours, passing snow showers may whiten the ground briefly before snow melts due to our mild ground temperatures. If the models pan out, skiers will love the late season shot of fluffy snow Fri night into Sat. Sunday: Temperatures will remain below average Sun into early next week with highs only in the 40s with localized readings into the mid 50s in the Columbia Basin. Sunday has the potential to be a dry day, but the medium range models are having difficulty resolving shortwaves on Sunday. For now, we will carry low chances for showers in the mountains and the westerly upslope regions of the Palouse and Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area. /GKoch && .AVIATION... 12z TAFs: Showers this morning are well north of all TAF sites. Conditions are VFR for all sites and will remain through the day for most. Clouds are on the decrease. A minor disturbance will bring scattered showers to NE Washginton and N Idaho today, some of which will likely reach KCOE this afternoon. KGEG and KSFF could even see a few showers in the vicinity. KLWS has a chance to see widely scattered showers after 21Z through sunset. KMWH and KEAT will have clear skies through the day./bw && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 47 33 51 34 52 40 / 10 10 10 10 40 60 Coeur d'Alene 45 32 48 32 50 37 / 30 20 10 10 40 50 Pullman 45 31 50 37 53 42 / 10 0 0 10 40 50 Lewiston 52 35 56 40 60 44 / 10 0 10 10 40 30 Colville 50 31 52 31 53 37 / 20 10 10 10 40 50 Sandpoint 44 32 46 31 48 36 / 40 10 10 10 40 50 Kellogg 41 28 46 30 48 35 / 20 10 10 10 50 40 Moses Lake 56 31 58 35 59 42 / 0 0 0 10 30 60 Wenatchee 54 34 55 35 53 40 / 0 0 0 10 40 70 Omak 53 32 52 33 52 40 / 10 10 10 10 50 80 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 539 AM PDT Mon Mar 19 2018 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-201245- 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- 539 AM PDT Mon Mar 19 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...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY No hazardous weather is expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
A rock slide blocked the southbound lanes of Highway 21 about 9 miles north of Curlew.
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, March 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: 746792.