Another Low brought thunderstorms to the region bringing heavy rains and lightning for May 27, 2023.
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The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
Another Low brought thunderstorms to the region bringing heavy rains and lightning for May 27, 2023.
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 May 26, 1:11 PM PST, 4 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 211 PM PDT Fri May 26 2023 .SYNOPSIS... Temperatures will be warm through the weekend and early next week. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected at times through Sunday. Monday looks drier, then shower chances start to expand again Tuesday into Thursday. Some breezy conditions are expected for Memorial Day weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight through Sunday Night: The stubborn low remains over the region. It will continue to do so through Saturday night. Through the evening tonight and again Saturday afternoon and evening scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop around the periphery of the low. The concern with these storms is their slow motion. Winds are incredibly weak throughout the vertical profile and it will be difficult to see any strong storms. However, we will continue to see an increase in precipitable water values to near 170% of normal by tomorrow afternoon. Storms that develop will be very small, with tiny cores that can put out some moderate to heavy rain. Low confidence on where specifically these heavy rain producing storms would be. Better chances in the mountains, but cannot rule some storms coming off the mountains and into the valley and parts of eastern WA. The high resolution models show isolated to scattered showers continuing at times through the night and Saturday morning, but their locations vary greatly depending on which model you look at. Have added a slight chance to chance (20-40%) of rain. Cannot rule out an isolated clap of thunder or lightning strike, but it would be few and far between. Sunday the low finally pushes south and we begin to get a more westerly/northwesterly flow into the region. We will see one more day of showers and thunderstorms, but they will mainly be confined to the mountains of NE WA and the ID Panhandle in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will remain warm Saturday and Sunday, in the 70s to mid 80s. That is 5 to 10 degrees above average. /Nisbet Monday through Friday: Monday is much drier than Sunday with shower chances limited to NE WA/N ID higher terrain and in the Camas Prairie (5-15% chance). Shortwave trough and increasing southwesterly flow starting Tuesday brings scattered chances of showers and weak thunderstorms to the Camas Prairie (15-30% chance). Wednesday/Thursday/Friday will have more widespread chances of scattered showers and thunderstorms in much of the Idaho Panhandle and E WA (15-30% chance). Instability will be fairly limited each day Wednesday onward around 250 J/kg, which leads to a 10% chance of a stray strike. Temperatures will be 5-15 degrees above normal in the high 70s and 80s with the warmest days being Monday and Tuesday. A stray 90 degrees is possible in the Basin/L-C Valley/Wenatchee Valley. /db && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS: VFR conditions are expected for the period. Probability of lightning impacting the TAF sites will be greatest through 01z. 20-30% for GEG-SFF-COE and 10-20% for EAT and MWH. However, high-resolution models have low confidence/little agreement on timing and strength of storms to impact air fields. Therefore, have some VCSH in the TAF but will have to see how convection is developing before adding -TSRA to prevailing forecast. Storms will likely have gusty outflow winds leading to erratic winds and brief heavy rain. Rain showers are possible (20-30%) to develop around GEG/SFF/COE overnight and through Saturday morning. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 54 76 55 78 55 81 / 40 40 30 10 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 54 72 54 74 53 80 / 40 60 40 10 0 0 Pullman 51 73 53 74 52 78 / 10 50 20 10 0 0 Lewiston 58 80 59 79 57 86 / 10 40 20 10 0 0 Colville 51 77 51 79 51 81 / 20 50 20 20 0 0 Sandpoint 52 70 53 73 53 78 / 40 60 30 40 0 0 Kellogg 54 68 55 71 54 77 / 70 90 50 40 0 0 Moses Lake 54 84 54 85 52 86 / 10 20 10 0 0 0 Wenatchee 58 82 56 83 55 84 / 30 30 10 0 0 0 Omak 56 82 56 84 55 85 / 10 30 20 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
The Spokane radar (KOTX), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:16 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Land spout tornado reported by public. No damage or injuries reported.
Flash flood in the area of Adams Rd and Rd 13 NW. Mud, rocks, and debris were covering the roadway.
Lightning struck a tree at the Fairmont Cemetery in Northwest Spokane. Tree was spit in pieces on the ground with wood splinters scattered across the ground. No injuries were reported. Exact time of the lightning strike was estimated.
Washington State Patrol reported heavy rain in Central Spokane. Water was standing on Interstate 90 in both directions.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Washington, 2023Warnings in Washington, May 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: 1104968, 1104964, 1104969, 1104965.