Washington, 2020

Heavy Snow in Washington, January 21 to 24, 2020

January 21 to 24, 2020 · NWS SEW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Another weather system brought several days of impactful snow accumulations to the mountains late in the month.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.

Another weather system brought several days of impactful snow accumulations to the mountains late in the month.

What forecasters said that day

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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 21, 8:46 AM PST, 5 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 8:46 AM PST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
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Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit Counties

When
January 21, 2:00 PM PST to January 24, 8:00 AM PST
Where
Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit Counties forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

Snow began during the early afternoon hours on January 21st, with new snow accumulation of around 25 inches by the morning hours of the 22nd. Snow continued over the next several days, eventually tapering on the 24th. Storm total snowfall accumulation around Mount Baker of 38 inches.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Washington in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2020

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 873725.