A shortwave with low level jet support pushed through the region on November 11. It brought strong winds across the Inland Northwest.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 shortwave with low level jet support pushed through the region on November 11. It brought strong winds across the Inland Northwest. The Eastern Cascade Valleys and the Columbia Basin received gusts in the range of 40 to 55 MPH. The Northern Mountain areas show winds in the 20 to 30 MPH. Around 1800 customers lost power.
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 11, 4:14 AM PST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
414 AM PST Sat Nov 11 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
Very windy conditions will develop early Saturday and continue
through most of the day. Snow over the north Cascades will create
winter driving conditions. Unsettled weather will continue at
times through early next week, mainly in the form of valley rain
and mountain snow.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
...Windy conditions regionwide today...
Today: Winds are increasing across north central WA this morning.
At 5k ft we have already seen gusts to 44 mph. Omak is already
gusting to 30 mph. On the west side of the state where the jet is
beginning to nose into...they have already seen gusts in the low
50s near sea level. Expecting a windy day across the region with
moderate impacts. Models have sped up the time of winds increasing
this morning and peaking mid to late morning (central WA) and
late morning to mid afternoon (eastern WA and north ID)...then
begin to decrease late this afternoon and evening. Winds will
remain breezy through the night.
Probabilities of gusts 50 mph or greater are highest across
Lincoln county, the higher terrain of the Colville Reservation,
the northern Waterville Plateau, the Blue Mountains and the
higher terrain of the east slopes of the Cascades (45-65%).
Specific locations probabilities are: Spokane airport 30%, Pullman
25%, the area between Moses Lake and Ritzville 55%, Wenatchee
25%, Sandpoint less than 10%.
Probabilities of gusts 45 mph or higher for specific locations
are: Spokane 60%, Pullman 70%, Moses Lake and Wenatchee 50%,
Sandpoint 20%, Colville 15%.
When comparing current model winds aloft to what was forecast for
the Nov 2015 and Jan 2021 wind storms, it does not look like winds
will be as strong as those storms for our region.
*IMPACTS: Isolated to scattered power outages. Strong cross winds
for those traveling, especially high profile vehicles. Unsecured
objects being blown around. Damage to trees and limbs.
Debating on issuing a high wind warning for portions of central
WA. The plan is to see what our 3am sounding shows for winds aloft
and make a decision thereafter. But, will be pushing the start
time earlier for the wind advisories.
Snow: It is snowing over Washington and Stevens pass this morning.
Expect rates to increase this morning across Washington Pass with
a 80% chance of an inch an hour accumulation from 5 to 10 am, and
a 60% chance of that continuing at times through the afternoon.
Snow levels will remain around 4k ft in the Cascades through the
day. Snow levels will come down further in the evening and
overnight hours, but snow will be winding down with light
accumulations.
Rain amounts will generally be light. The best chance for precip
today will be in the Cascades mountains, and across northern WA
and the ID Panhandle. But valley locations could see a couple
hours of light rain during the day. /Nisbet
Sunday...Model agreement is very good we will transition
from a wet and windy conditions today to a much quieter end of
the weekend. The quieter weather will result from the
amplification of a 500 mb shortwave ridge. But just how long the
ridge keeps us dry is where the confidence in the models begins to
falter. Yesterday’s model runs showed nearly 40% of the ensemble
runs brought light precipitation into the Cascades and far
northern portions of WA by late afternoon, however that number has
shrunk, in line with the deterministic models all of which keep
the precipitation from the far north Cascades to western
Washington. High temperatures will be warmer than normal with
highs in the mid 40s to mid 50s.
Sunday night through Tuesday...The upper level flow begins
to split with a significant portion of the upper level flow
dropping toward the California coast. Meanwhile a small chunk of
upper level energy will push a weakening trough through the Inland
NW on Monday with deepening south-southwest flow between them.
This flow will likely increase the temperatures and moisture
content over the area. Just how much precipitation this will
result in a questionable. The GEFS and European ensembles are
generally the driest, while the majority of the Canadian ensemble
runs bring light precipitation to most of the region. In either
case, the precipitation should be fairly light. The NBM
deterministic amounts are generally a tenth of an inch or less.
Near the Cascade Crest and ID Panhandle mountains totals will
range from 0.15-0.35”. Valley locations will largely see rain,
however some locations near the Canadian border might see some
non-accumulating snow during the late night and early morning.
Meanwhile mountain locations could see anywhere from 1-3”.
Temperatures will remain slightly warmer than normal with highs in
the mid 40s to lower 50s.
Tuesday night into Thursday...this period is expected to see a
little more consolidation of the flow as the strong low off the
CA coast heads eastward and advects significant moisture
northward. This moisture will deepen enough for a renewed chance
of precipitation spreading northeast across the region as a
stronger shortwave trough transits the area. Precipitation
amounts should still be light, with the heaviest amounts expected
from SE Washington into the northern tip of the ID Panhandle.
Values ranging from 0.20-0.40” are possible in these areas with
lighter amounts farther west. There is also a 20-30% of over a
half inch of precipitation over the northern Panhandle mountains.
By Thursday...the upper level trough is expected to shift east of
the region, with a drying and cooling trend. High temperatures on
Wednesday will be in the 40s to lower 50s dropping into the upper
30s and 40s by Thursday.
Friday and Saturday...Flat ridging is expected to bring a
relatively dry Friday however a weather change is on the horizon
as moist zonal flow overtakes the region. This should bring
widespread precipitation to the Cascade Crest and the ID
Panhandle. Moderate snow will be possible at Washington and
Stevens Pass. There is a 50% of 6” or more of snow at Washington
Pass and a 30% chance at Stevens Pass. fx
&&
.AVIATION...
...STRONG WINDS TODAY...
12Z TAFs: The arrival of a 150kt Pacific jet and accompanying
trough of low pressure today will bring periods of precipitaiton
but more importantly, very strong winds. There is high confidence
for a 40-50kt jet to develop a few thousand feet off the surface.
This low-level jet has a 70-90% chance to mix down to the surface
across the rising terrain of the Upper Columbia Basin, Palouse,
Spokane-Cd'A Area, and portions of the North Idaho Panhandle. Wind
gusts could briefly reach closer to 60 mph for areas from Wilbur
to Davenport to Spokane International. Winds will be strongest
between 1500-2300 UTC and slowly come down throughout the
evening. The incoming storm system will also bring heavy mountain
snow to the Cascade Crest with widespread mtn obscrns.
Periods of light rain will be possible for terminals in North
Idaho and Northern Washington with a lower threat in the Columbia
Basin.
With the winds increasing a couple hours earlier and fairly
extensive cloud cover, there isn't time for fog to develop and
have removed any br for this morning. The exception is EAT where
thinner clouds has allowed MVFR vis. Confidence is low for exact
wind speeds for locations in the lee of the Cascades around
Wenatchee, Moses Lake, and Chelan due to stable layers and
potential for winds to be delayed until later in the afternoon.
There is also a 5-10% chance for t-storms in the afternoon but
given low confidence, have not been added to any forecast.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 50 34 49 36 50 33 / 60 10 0 10 30 20
Coeur d'Alene 48 35 48 35 49 34 / 80 40 0 10 40 30
Pullman 52 34 51 38 52 35 / 60 20 0 0 30 40
Lewiston 59 40 56 42 57 40 / 40 10 0 0 10 30
Colville 47 26 43 29 45 27 / 70 20 10 30 60 30
Sandpoint 44 32 46 31 46 32 / 100 70 10 20 60 60
Kellogg 45 37 48 38 51 37 / 100 80 0 10 40 50
Moses Lake 55 34 51 35 50 30 / 20 0 0 0 10 10
Wenatchee 52 37 46 37 48 33 / 40 10 0 20 10 10
Omak 52 32 46 35 48 29 / 50 10 10 40 20 10
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 10 PM PST this evening
for Central Panhandle Mountains-Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho
Palouse-Northern Panhandle.
WA...Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 10 PM PST this evening
for Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Northeast Mountains-
Okanogan Highlands-Spokane Area-Washington Palouse.
Wind Advisory from 7 AM this morning to 7 PM PST this evening
for Moses Lake Area-Okanogan Valley-Upper Columbia Basin-
Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area.
Winter Storm Warning until 10 PM PST this evening for Western
Chelan County-Western Okanogan County.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station AV884 2 miles Southeast of Beverly recorded a gust of 86 MPH at 0722 LST. No damage was reported in area. Other gusts in the ranged from 45 to 55 MPH.
Spokane Airport recorded a gust of 52 MPH at 1246LST. A Coop observer 3 miles Northwest of Spokane reported a gust of 55 MPH at 1201LST. The local utility company reported 1000 customers without power in Spokane County at 1240LST.
Deer Park ASOS recorded 53 MPH gust at 1155LST. Local utility company in Wellpinit reported 352 customers lost power.
Station DW6220 located 2 miles West of Pullman recorded a gust of 59 MPH at 1330PM.
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, November 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: 1149094, 1149488, 1149527, 1149486.