A strong cold front brought heavy snow and strong winds to portions of Eastern Washington. Snow reports across the region ranged from 2 to 5 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 strong cold front brought heavy snow and strong winds to portions of Eastern Washington. Snow reports across the region ranged from 2 to 5 inches. The Cascades received the most with Stevens Pass recording 36 inches. Winds were breezy across the Columbia Basin with gusts into the into the 40s MPH.
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 Feb 25, 3:59 AM PST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
359 AM PST Sun Feb 25 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
The passage of a strong frontal system late today will deliver
wind gusts as high as 50 mph to eastern Washington and north Idaho
during the afternoon into the overnight hours. Heavy mountain
snow will also accompany this front with 1 to 3 feet of
accumulation in the north Washington Cascades and a foot or more
for elevations above 3000 feet in the Idaho Panhandle. More heavy
mountain snow is expected between Wednesday and next Saturday
along with increasing winds for the Basin as a slow moving low
remains anchored off the coast.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
...STRONG FRONT TO BRING GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS LATE SUNDAY INTO
SUNDAY NIGHT AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...
...MORE HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW AND WIND WEDNESDAY INTO NEXT
SATURDAY...
Today through Tuesday night...Heavy mountain snow and strong winds
will start out this week so make sure you are keeping up with your
local forecast, especially if you are traveling. Snow levels will be
4000 to 5000 feet through this period, with the lower terrain seeing
rain as temperatures will warm into the 40s. The Cascades and Idaho
Panhandle remain under Winter Storm Warnings with the Blue Mountains
also being upgraded. Snow will increase in intensity over the
Cascades this morning, with snow rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.
Snow rates will be heaviest late this morning, not decreasing in
intensity until late this evening. With these snow rates, the
Cascades will quickly accumulate 2 to 3 feet by Monday afternoon.
The Idaho Panhandle will also see a healthy amounts of snow but
amounts will remain in the 10 to 15 inch range.
A Wind Advisory is also in effect for Sunday for much of eastern WA
and the ID Panhandle as southwest winds increase throughout the day
as a cold front moves through. Winds will increase throughout the
day, with the strongest winds in the late evening into overnight
hours. At 3AM, winds are around 10 mph sustained with gusts between
20 to 30 mph but those winds will increase to sustained winds of 25
to 30 mph, with gusts of 45 to 50 mph. Gusty winds could blow around
unsecured objects and tree limbs could be blown down and a few power
outages may result.
As the trough continues to slide through the area, Monday will dry
out slightly, with showers anticipated in the eastern third of WA,
Cascades and ID Panhandle. The mountains, while intensity will be
less, will continue to accumulate snowfall with an additional 2 to 4
inches to add on. High temperatures will continue to cool Monday
behind the cold front, with winds gusting to 30 mph throughout the
day, not decreasing again until Monday evening.
Tuesday will be the brief break before the next round of snow/rain
and wind arrives Tuesday night. Tuesday will be the coolest day of
the week, and while high temperatures will remain 5 to 10 degrees
below normal in the lower elevations, they will remain above
freezing. This will keep much of the lower elevation precipitation
as rain. The Cascades will see snow intensity increase late Tuesday
evening and snow begin to accumulate again. Winds will be calm to
start off, increasing throughout the day. /KM
Wednesday through Sunday:
The next significant storm system will impact the region beginning
Wednesday morning with another round of heavy mountain snow, low
elevation rain, and gusty winds. The initial onset of the
precipitation will play a large role in how much potential snow
the lower elevations see before transitioning over to rain. The
previous forecast discussion provided an excellent recap of the
probability of exceeding 1" of snow for several locations. A quick
glance indicates that the latest model runs have backed off
slightly on those probabilities.
The valley locations that hold onto the cold air the longest
including the northeast WA and the north ID panhandle have the
best chance of seeing accumulating snowfall. By late Wednesday
morning, the warm front will arrive which will raise snow levels
to above valley floors. Rainfall continues through Wednesday night
into Thursday along with gusty southwest winds.
This next round of winds looks slightly weaker than what we are
expecting Sunday afternoon but still something to keep an eye on.
The warm winds and increased snow levels will result in more rapid
melt off and rises on area rivers. The more flashy basins will see
rises on creeks and rivers, most notably Paradise Creek and the
Palouse River.
By Thursday, the tap of moisture will be shut off as the cold
upper trof slowly moves over the region. Snow levels begin to
lower again and showery weather resumes through the weekend. The
trof axis doesn't move past the Inland Northwest until late in the
weekend. The result will be typical March weather complete with
afternoon snow or graupel showers. The forecast temperatures are
remarkably close to average highs/lows for this time of year. /AB
&&
.AVIATION...
12Z TAFS: High level clouds will persist through the morning ahead
of the next system. Winds will increase throughout the day, with a
potential of gusts up to 40-45kts by the afternoon, continuing
overnight. Light occasional rain will be found in the
Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area to the Palouse by afternoon with local
IFR conditions. Areas of heavy snow to impact the Cascade Crest
and Idaho Panhandle around Mullan with mountains obscured.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Confidence of
stratus/fog in the sheltered valleys overnight is very low given
the high overcast well mixed boundary layer. Confidence of IFR
conditions with the precipitation by midday is moderate from the
Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area to the Palouse.
------------------
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 47 28 39 23 36 29 / 70 50 30 30 10 60
Coeur d'Alene 43 27 36 21 34 26 / 90 70 50 40 20 60
Pullman 46 30 37 24 34 28 / 60 100 80 70 20 50
Lewiston 55 37 44 29 41 32 / 30 100 50 60 10 30
Colville 46 24 39 19 36 25 / 50 50 20 20 10 60
Sandpoint 41 27 35 21 32 25 / 100 100 70 60 40 80
Kellogg 41 28 34 22 31 25 / 100 100 80 70 50 70
Moses Lake 54 30 45 26 42 32 / 20 10 10 0 0 10
Wenatchee 51 30 41 25 40 30 / 30 60 20 0 0 30
Omak 53 28 43 22 38 29 / 20 30 20 0 0 30
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Storm Warning from 11 AM this morning to 10 AM PST Monday
for Central Panhandle Mountains-Northern Panhandle.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 1 AM PST Monday for
Coeur d'Alene Area-Northern Panhandle.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST Monday for
Central Panhandle Mountains-Idaho Palouse-Lewis and
Southern Nez Perce Counties.
WA...Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 1 AM PST Monday for
Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Spokane Area-Upper
Columbia Basin-Waterville Plateau.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PST Monday for
Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Washington Palouse.
Winter Storm Warning from 7 PM this evening to 4 AM PST Tuesday
for Northeast Blue Mountains.
Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Monday for Western Chelan
County.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 strong wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Stevens Pass had several days of snow. The Washington Department of Transportation recorded 24 hour snow report on Feb 26th of 13.0 inches, Feb 27th of 10.0 inches, and Feb 28th of 13.0 inches for a 3 day total of 36 inches.
Local utility company reported 436 residents estimated to be without power around the South Hill area at 2043LST. Spokane International Airport recorded a max gust of 48 MPH at 1850LST. Winds were sustained in the 20s with gusts into the 30s and 40s for the period.
Local utility company reported 307 residents estimated to be without power just east of the Twin Lakes at 2149LST. Gold Mountain Raws recorded a max gust of 47 MPH at 2111LST. Winds were sustained in the teens with gusts into the 30s and 40s for the period.
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, February 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: 1163997, 1164003, 1164004.