Heavy snow band pushed through the Wenatchee area. Snow amounts ranged from 3 to 7 inches for Wenatchee, Malaga, and Plain.
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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.
Heavy snow band pushed through the Wenatchee area. Snow amounts ranged from 3 to 7 inches for Wenatchee, Malaga, and Plain.
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 4, 3:39 PM PST, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
339 PM PST Wed Jan 4 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
The arrival of a frontal system tonight into Thursday will
produce a swath of mixed precipitation in the form of snow, rain,
and freezing rain across central and northeast Washington.
Seasonably mild temperatures and periods of valley rain and
mountain snow are expected Friday into next week. Expect afternoon
highs in the upper 30s and 40s and overnight lows in the upper 20s
and 30s.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Wednesday night through Thursday: Winter weather advisories have
been issued beginning at 4 PM in Central Washington as a powerful
but decaying Pacific storm brushes our area this evening. 10 to 20
knot southeast 850 hPa winds will produce decent snowfall amounts
for the orographically favored east slopes of the Cascades
overnight and into tomorrow. The latest model runs have trended
upward by quite a bit with their snow accumulations, giving
Wenatchee and Leavenworth 4 to 6 inches by tomorrow afternoon.
With warm air moving in aloft from the southeast early tomorrow
morning and surface temperatures across much of the region still
below freezing at that time, there is a possibility for freezing
rain. Locations with the highest chances for freezing rain are
along the line from Spokane to Coulee City and down into Moses
Lake. Ice is most likely to accumulate between 4AM and 10AM,
potentially impacting tomorrow morning's commute. /Fewkes
Friday through Tuesday: The region is left in an active pattern but
impacts with these will be minimal. Shortwaves will pass through the
region each day with rain for the lower elevations and mountain
snow. Snow accumulations will be 1 to 2 inches per day in the
mountains. Areas most likely to see precip is along the leeside of
the Cascades. The Columbia Basin, Palouse, LC Valley and ID
Panhandle will not see as much precipitation as the northern
mountains and the Cascades.
High temperatures will warm into the 30s to low 40s with several
areas such as the Columbia Basin and LC Valley warming into the
upper 40s. Low temperatures will cool into to near or slightly
above freezing. /KM
&&
.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS: The next system will bring lowering CIGS and
precipitation to much of the region tonight into Thursday. The SE
flow in the boundary layer will keep moisture pooled up into the
Cascades where the greatest restrictions are forecast as snow
moves in. The Wenatchee Airport may pick up 3-5 inches by 20z Thu.
Meanwhile the SE Winds should keep conditions VFR over SE
Washington into the Lewiston area. For the Columbia Basin into the
Spokane/Coeur d'Alene areas brief light freezing rain is possible
but with temperatures near the freezing mark and light
precipitation in these areas confidence in light ice accumulations
is low. JW
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 24 35 29 39 30 39 / 10 30 10 0 10 30
Coeur d'Alene 23 34 28 40 30 39 / 10 30 10 0 10 20
Pullman 32 40 32 42 30 41 / 10 30 10 10 10 20
Lewiston 32 45 36 47 35 47 / 20 20 10 0 10 10
Colville 20 34 27 38 29 39 / 10 40 10 10 20 40
Sandpoint 23 33 30 37 30 37 / 10 40 20 10 10 30
Kellogg 24 37 31 40 31 40 / 10 40 20 10 10 20
Moses Lake 31 38 30 39 30 40 / 50 40 10 0 30 40
Wenatchee 28 32 28 35 32 35 / 70 50 20 10 40 50
Omak 25 34 31 35 31 37 / 20 60 30 10 40 50
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 8 PM PST Thursday for Central
Chelan County-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area-Western
Chelan County.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Observer recorded 6.8 inches of snow 4 miles Southwest of East Wenatchee.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2023
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: 1078556.