A moisture plume stretching from Southeast WA into Northwest MT brought the first decent snow of the season. The heaviest snow was in the Lower ID Panhandle with most other locations across the Panhandle received an inch or less.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
A moisture plume stretching from Southeast WA into Northwest MT brought the first decent snow of the season. The heaviest snow was in the Lower ID Panhandle with most other locations across the Panhandle received an inch or less.
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 Nov 2, 1:58 AM PST, 2 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
258 AM PDT Wed Nov 2 2022
.SYNOPSIS....
Rain/snow showers linger today ahead of the much more significant
storm system to arrive Thursday night. Another round of low
elevation snow is expected by Friday morning along with strong
winds Friday night into Saturday morning. A much colder weather
pattern will bring accumulating snow to the Inland NW next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today through Thursday: Upper level trof containing a cold and
conditionally unstable airmass, quite evident from the cellular
nature of the clouds nested inside it and visible on IR satellite
image, makes slow movement eastward over Eastern Washington and
North Idaho. The leading east edge of this trof may still have a bit
of moisture feeding into it from the south/southwest in addition to
the instability and the favored southwest flow, thus pops and qpf
will tend to favor mainly the higher terrain of North Idaho, Blue
Mountains and perhaps some minor portions of the Washington
Cascades. Those pops will be for rain and snow this morning with
the snow level down to some valley floors, especially over the
Washington and Idaho Palouse where snow continues to fall at times
early this morning with some light amounts of slush lingering on
some roadways there. Tonight the trof continues to make slow
progress to the east and allow snow levels to drop to valley
floors, however a significant trigger mechanism and moisture is
lacking, therefore pops remain fairly low and essentially depict a
generally dry forecast but if something falls it would be snow.
In addition some patchy fog is thrown in for good measure during
the overnight and early Thursday morning hours. Positively tilted
ridging and a tendency towards a cool and progressive northwest
flow are in store Thursday allowing for substantial cloud cover.
In addition light pops for light snow generally near the higher
terrain of the Cascade Crest and North Idaho due to this
progressive flow Thursday remain. With the cold conditionally
unstable air having a substantial influence forecast temps during
this time interval, especially overnight lows, remain on the cool
side of what would be considered normal for this time of year.
/Pelatti
Thursday night through Tuesday:
***First lowland snowfall of the season expected Thursday night and
Friday morning followed by strong winds Friday and Saturday***
Thursday night and Friday morning: Fall didn't last long this year
as the first taste of winter is set to arrive in a couple days. As
the next shortwave moves into the area, the first lowland snow of
the year is expected across many locations. Low temperatures will
hover right around freezing near Spokane and Coeur d'Alene which
could mean that some of the lower valleys could see rain while the
hills see snow (think downtown Spokane vs. South Hill / Five Mile).
Valley locations east of a line from Colville to Spokane to Pullman
have the best chance of seeing 1 to 3 inches of snow while the
mountains could see over 8 inches of snow. The biggest change in the
forecast is the amount of QPF on the leeward side of the Cascades
has been lowered significantly due to a lack of spillover from the
western side of the Cascades. This will keep snow amounts slightly
lower in those areas.
*Snow Impacts: Not only will the Friday morning commute be slower,
but with a limited fall season, there are many leaves will on the
trees. The heavy, wet snow could pose a threat for tree damage. Make
sure to slow down and allow for extra time to get to work in the
morning.
Friday through Saturday: After the snow Friday morning, a warm front
will move through, switching all precip to rain below 6500 ft. If
you want to save yourself from shoveling snow, wait until the front
passes and any snow will quickly melt. Winds will also increase
behind the warm front, peaking Friday night. Gusts in the the
Columbia Basin, Palouse, and Spokane area will reach up to 50 mph.
Confidence is still limited at the frequency of the higher gusts
that will make it to the surface due to the nocturnal nature of this
event. Winds will continue to stay breezy during the day on Saturday
with gusts remaining in the 25 to 35 mph range. Temperatures will be
warmest during this period with most locations seeing upper 40s to
low 50s.
*Wind Impacts: Isolated to scattered tree damage along with power
outages. As the wind increases Friday morning, many trees will still
be covered in heavy, wet snow, increasing the likelihood of tree
damage.
Saturday night through Tuesday: Several waves are expected to pass
over the region as a trough digs deeper for early next week.
Temperatures will cool each day with highs expected into the mid 20s
to low 30s by Tuesday. At this time, the lowest daytime high appears
to be Tuesday. During this time frame as well, several additional
systems will bring snow to the region. Ensembles are not consistent
on the track of the lows so just how cold or snowy is uncertain. /KM
&&
.AVIATION...
12Z TAFS: Slow moving band of rain and snow will continue to
allow for MVFR conditions as it slowly moves east today. Abundant
moisture left from recent rain/snow will allow for MVFR stratus
and fog as well until about 18Z. Minor disturbances rotating in
the cold and unstable airmass over the aviation area may allow for
some rain/snow showers, especially over the higher terrain near
the Cascade Crest and over North Idaho but over TAF sites VFR
should prevail thereafter until more spotty MVFR/IFR conditions
forming during the overnight and Thursday morning hours.
/Pelatti
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 43 25 41 30 49 35 / 20 10 0 80 80 70
Coeur d'Alene 42 27 40 32 47 36 / 40 10 0 90 100 90
Pullman 40 23 39 27 47 34 / 30 10 0 80 90 90
Lewiston 46 30 44 35 52 44 / 30 10 0 70 90 90
Colville 45 15 42 22 47 23 / 30 10 0 90 90 70
Sandpoint 38 25 38 30 43 33 / 70 30 10 90 100 90
Kellogg 38 26 37 31 44 37 / 80 10 10 80 100 100
Moses Lake 48 21 45 32 55 35 / 10 0 0 50 60 70
Wenatchee 46 27 44 34 52 37 / 20 0 0 70 80 80
Omak 49 23 44 31 49 32 / 10 0 10 70 80 60
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Weather Advisory until 8 AM PDT this morning for Lewis
and Southern Nez Perce Counties.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 8 AM PDT this morning for
Northeast Blue Mountains.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow began around 0200 LST and ended around 0600 LST. Local observer reported 5 inches of accumulation.
Heavy snow began around 0200 LST and ended around 0600 LST. Local observer reported 6 inches of accumulation.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, November 2022
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: 1064117, 1064118.