A snow band brought heavy snow to the area around Anatone.
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The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
A snow band brought heavy snow to the area around Anatone.
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 Apr 4, 2:53 PM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
353 PM PDT Thu Apr 4 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
Cool and showery conditions will persist into the weekend. A round
of snow may impact the Palouse and Camas Prairie tonight and
Friday night. A warmer and drier weather pattern will return next
Tuesday and persist through the end of next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today: Upper low off the northern California coast continues to
bring sensible weather impacts to the Inland Northwest. Meager
surface based instability and topographic forcing in the ID
Panhandle has been advertised by models for this afternoon, posing
a threat for low topped showers capable of infrequent lightning.
Tonight: As the low shifts east into Northern California and
Nevada tonight, the main concern becomes lowland snow. Snow
levels fall as low as 2500 feet over the Blue Mountains, Palouse,
and Camas Prairie Friday morning. This snowfall carries great
uncertainty as most MOS guidance only brings locations such as
Pullman down to 34 degrees tonight. It would take a strong burst
of snow to lead to any meaningful accumulations. The bottom floor
scenario is zero snow for locations below 3000 feet (10% chance).
The ceiling for this event is significant with models indicating
the potential for many inches of snow. I am leaning much closer to
the bottom floor scenario as the lack of cold air in place
currently has burned me before in the Palouse. High resolution
guidance is indicating 850 mb temperatures at or just below
freezing, which would severely limit the snow potential. The
Palouse has been a very tough region to forecast winter
precipitation and this event is no different. A rain snow mix is
not out of the question for Spokane/Cda/Sandpoint tomorrow morning
but impacts will be minimal. Road temperatures on the Camas
Prairie are still forecasted by above freezing despite 1-3” of
snow in the forecast by tomorrow.
Friday-Sunday: As the low shifts into Idaho tomorrow afternoon,
additional beneficial rains will occur in much of the Inland
Northwest. Snow levels fall again to 2000-3000 feet into Saturday
night setting up another forecast conundrum for precipitation type
on the Palouse. High resolution models look a bit more aggressive
with this cooling Saturday which is supported by a bit cooler
temperatures on the MOS guidance. There is 10-40% chance of an
additional inch or more of snow by 11 AM Saturday on the Palouse
and Camas Prairie. Sunday and Monday remain unsettled with a
shortwave bringing light non-impactful showers to the region.
Tue onward: By the middle of next week, it looks like a
significant high-pressure system could develop in the
Northwestern United States. The main uncertainty revolves around
how strong this high-pressure system will be and where exactly it
will be positioned. 60% of the global ensembles suggest that by
Thursday, there will likely be a substantial high-pressure system
over Washington State. The EC ensemble is the most confident about
this outcome, with about 80% of its members supporting this
scenario. In comparison, only about 30% of members from the GEFS
ensemble and 45% from the CMC ensemble indicate support for the
high-pressure system being over Washington mid-next week. However,
27% of the ensembles still indicate a high-pressure system
further east over Utah and Wyoming, which favors a wetter pattern
in the Inland Northwest.
Overall, the consensus among models suggests a strong likelihood
of a high-pressure system in the Northwest US next week. This
would result in above-normal temperatures and below-normal
precipitation. /Butler
&&
.AVIATION...
00Z TAFS: Bands of precipitation rotating around lower pressure to
our south will rotate through the region from southeast to
northwest. This will bring a low confidence forecast for exact
timing of lower cigs and visibility for most terminals outside of
the Palouse and L-C Valley. These areas carry moderate confidence
of a prolonged period of MVFR to IFR conditions due to more
persistent precipitation and favorable wind patterns for low
clouds. Soundings also favor rain changing to snow at Pullman
between 6-9z Friday, but with lows expectations for snow
accumulations on the terminals. Snowfall amounts range from a
trace to four inches. Locations like Anatone, Winchester, and
Clarkia carry higher probabilities for 2+" due to being closer to
3000 feet elevation. Conditions will improve some Friday afternoon
with the April sun angle and decreasing precipitation threat.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence of
conditions degrading to at least MVFR regionwide. High confidence
of IFR conditions at PUW. Moderate to low confidence of IFR
conditions at GEG, SFF, COE. Low confidence of IFR conditions at
LWS, MWH, EAT. Would not rule out snow mixing with rain as far
north as Spokane, Coeur D Alene, and into the East Slopes of the
Cascades but confidence is very low for any accumulations. /sb
Confidence descriptors:
Low - Less than a 30 percent chance
Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance
High - Greater than a 70 percent chance
For additional probabilistic information for NWS Spokane airports,
please refer to the Aviation Dashboard on our webpage:
https://www.weather.gov/otx/avndashboard
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 36 47 36 50 34 52 / 90 60 60 50 10 10
Coeur d'Alene 36 49 34 46 34 49 / 90 60 70 70 30 30
Pullman 33 40 33 44 32 48 / 100 80 80 60 30 20
Lewiston 38 48 37 52 37 55 / 100 80 70 50 20 10
Colville 33 52 33 54 32 53 / 80 70 40 40 20 20
Sandpoint 35 51 36 45 35 47 / 90 60 60 80 50 50
Kellogg 38 47 36 41 37 45 / 90 60 80 90 50 60
Moses Lake 37 53 36 59 34 59 / 60 80 30 10 0 0
Wenatchee 39 54 36 56 37 57 / 30 50 10 0 0 0
Omak 38 58 36 61 36 61 / 60 50 20 10 0 10
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 11 AM PDT
Saturday for Northeast Blue Mountains.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Observer reported 9.5 inches of snow 2 miles South of Anatone. Other observations in the area reported amounts of 8 to 9 inches.
Observer reported 9.5 inches of snow 2 miles South of Anatone. Other observations in the area reported amounts of 8 to 9 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, April 2024
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: 1176383, 1194170.