A slow moving Low passed through the Pacific Northwest over January 6 through 10. It brought several rounds of locally heavy snow and gusty winds.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 slow moving Low passed through the Pacific Northwest over January 6 through 10. It brought several rounds of locally heavy snow and gusty winds. Through the period, locations in the Cascades and Northern Mountains saw snow amounts of 6 to 12 inches. The Columbia Basin locations had amounts of 1 to 5 inches. Wind gusts ranged from 40 to low 50 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 Jan 7, 3:46 PM PST, 15 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
346 PM PST Sun Jan 7 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
A weather system will bring heavy mountain snow starting Monday
morning and lasting through Wednesday. Strong winds Tuesday will
lead to blizzard conditions in the Cascades and Blue Mountains.
Winds will also be strong in Eastern Washington and North Idaho as
well. A round of light to moderate lowland snow will impact the
Lowlands of Eastern Washington/North Idaho Monday afternoon and
overnight before changing to rain Tuesday. Beyond Wednesday, there
are additional chances for snow and cooler air.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
...HEAVY CASCADE SNOW, LOCALLY WINDY AND TRENDING MUCH COLDER THIS
WEEK...
This afternoon through Tuesday: Light snow showers have continued
through much of the day in North Idaho and will slowly taper off
through the evening as subsidence increases. It should be quiet
overnight with temperatures cooling off into the low to mid 20s.
A multi-faceted winter storm will be aimed at the PNW/INW starting
tomorrow. Of main concern are winds Tuesday and heavy mountain
snow Monday through Wednesday in the Cascades/Northern Rockies. A
deep upper low will track through southern BC ushering in heavy
snow to the Cascades starting late morning Monday. This will
deliver a round of light to moderate snow in the Lowlands Monday
afternoon through the night hours. A warm nose will lead to a
changeover to rain in the Basin Monday night and will creep
northward to approximately Deer Park and south of Sandpoint. For
Eastern Washington, I am expecting approximately 1-3 inches of
snow north of I-90 and east of 195 in the Palouse. North Idaho
will see greater snowfall around 3 to 9 inches, locally up to a
foot near Sandpoint. Wind highlights are being issued soon for SE
WA into the Spokane and Cda area Tuesday as well since winds will
be gusting 45 to 60 mph from the southwest in a wide swath.
Blizzard warnings are being issued for the major Cascade passes
starting Tuesday morning, although by that time a foot of snow
will have fallen at the pass level. Pass travel in the Cascades
will be dangerous. The last time a blizzard warning was issued in
our forecast area was February 9th, 2019. Seattle has not issued a
blizzard warning since 2012. Winds are forecast to gust > 35 mph
for nearly 24 hours starting Tuesday morning at the Cascade passes
in conjunction with heavy snow falling. With strong winds,
visibility will be reduced below a quarter of a mile at times at
pass level. Guidance indicates the potential for 1 inch per hour
snowfall rates for 24 hours when the greatest wind speeds are
occurring. Forecast soundings look favorable for a PSCZ forming
Tuesday with WNW 850 mb winds and an unstable air mass with the
500 mb cold pool over us. 2 to 4 feet of snow will fall through
Wednesday morning in the Cascade passes. Blizzard warnings will be
in the Blue Mountains as well with gusting winds to 60+ mph on a
fresh layer of 7 to 15 inches of snow. Lookout Pass will be gusty
as well with 1 to 3 feet of snow from Monday evening through
Wednesday morning. /Butler
Wednesday to Sunday: Periodic snow will continue, while cold air
invades the region. The initial system shifts east of the region
early this period, but a series of shortwave systems will track
near or across the region between Wednesday and Saturday within
the broader trough, as the area shifts from a west-northwest flow
to a more north-northwest flow, drawing the colder air in the
region. Model agreement falters in a noticeable way toward the
Friday and Saturday in terms of the track of one of those
features, which decreases confidence in the precipitation chances
toward then. First, between Wednesday and Thursday night models
track some modestly strong shortwave disturbances across the
region. One tracks from west to east across the eastern CWA early
Wednesday, a second drops in from BC later Wednesday afternoon
and evening and third comes in from the north Thursday. This will
keep high chance to likely PoPs across most of the CWA, with the
highest overall chances near the Cascade crest and over southeast
WA through the ID Panhandle. The lowest chances will remain in the
lee of the Cascades and deeper basin.
Over the 48-hour period between late Wednesday morning and
Thursday night, the highest snowfall accumulations are over the
Cascade crest and the central Panhandle mountains, with about 5 to
10 inches. Adjacent areas from north Idaho through the higher
Palouse, Camas Prairie and Blues could see about 2-5 inches,
locally near 7 inches over the Idaho Palouse and higher Blue
Mountains. The rest of eastern WA and Cascades has about 0.5 to 2
inches, while the central WA has little to no accumulation in the
forecast. With all that said, convectively enhanced snowfall is
possible which could bring locally higher snowfall amounts within
these average totals. So this will all be monitored.
As we head into Friday and Saturday we see the models starting to
diverge, with some bringing another modesAn upper trough shifting
over east WA/N ID will allow for some spotty flurries or a brief
snow shower through early afternoon, then a ridge builds in before
the next system approaches. GEG/SFF/COE/PUW will see VFR/MVFR
conditions, with VFR elsewhere. t shortwave through eastern WA/ID
and other guidance holding it to the east. This would be the
difference between just seeing flurries or seeing moderate snow
accumulations for some spots. As it stands now, southeast WA
through the central Panhandle and the Cascade crest would have the
higher potential. For now the forecast around this time frame was
tempered away from being too extreme. Either way snow chances
will continue. Next Sunday looks drier.
...POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS COLD LATE THIS WEEK....
The other very notable feature of this system will be temperatures
dropping well below normal. On Wednesday temperatures will remain
near to just a slightly below normal, but as we head into Thursday
and especially Friday temperatures start to bottom out as cold air
invades. There are still some modest disagreements regarding the
precise numbers, but by Friday and Saturday we are looking for
single digit highs and lows near zero or below. We are looking at
values of 20-30 degrees below normal. Temperatures moderate only
slightly into next Sunday. Temperatures could be lower than
forecast, especially overnight lows. Yet several factors
complicate this including sky cover and winds. If either are those
are less it would be colder with better radiational cooling,
especially with any fresh snow. Initially we are looking for some
breezy conditions through Friday, before speeds subside some.
That winds leads to the next cold weather impact: wind chills. We
could be looking at wind chills at about -10 to -25 degrees
Thursday night into Friday morning and Friday night into Saturday
morning, over the north to northeast CWA. As with the actual
temperatures, the precise details has low to moderate confidence
as there is still a lot of disagreement in the precise numbers.
The biggest message is dangerously cold temperatures are in the
forecast. /Solveig
&&
.AVIATION...
18Z TAFS: Spotty snow shower or flurries will dissipate this
evening over east WA and north ID. Low clouds will start to
expand over the east third of WA and ID later tonight into Monday
morning, with MVFR/lcl IFR conditions. The next system approaching
from the west will bring some risk for snow in the Cascades toward
late morning to midday Monday, then over eastern WA and ID toward
mid to later afternoon.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Confidence in the
ceilings for Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and Pullman is moderate to low.
A deepening inversion overnight into early Monday will bring a
moderate to high risk for stratus expanding around Spokane, Coeur
d'Alene, Pullman toward 12-15Z. In terms of the next snow moving
into Monday, confidence is low to just bordering moderate for
development before 18Z Monday.
------------------
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 22 32 29 39 28 31 / 10 60 100 90 50 50
Coeur d'Alene 19 31 29 38 28 30 / 10 60 100 100 70 70
Pullman 22 32 29 38 27 32 / 10 40 100 100 60 80
Lewiston 27 38 35 46 35 38 / 10 20 90 100 40 60
Colville 15 28 24 35 21 30 / 0 60 100 90 40 40
Sandpoint 20 29 26 36 28 30 / 40 70 100 100 80 80
Kellogg 22 31 29 36 29 30 / 50 70 100 100 90 90
Moses Lake 24 33 30 43 31 39 / 0 70 90 50 10 10
Wenatchee 26 32 29 41 31 37 / 0 70 90 70 40 20
Omak 22 32 29 38 26 34 / 0 50 90 70 30 20
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Storm Warning from 4 PM Monday to 10 AM PST Wednesday for
Central Panhandle Mountains-Northern Panhandle.
Winter Weather Advisory from 2 PM Monday to 10 AM PST Tuesday
for Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse.
Winter Weather Advisory from 4 PM Monday to 7 PM PST Tuesday for
Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties.
WA...Winter Weather Advisory from 2 PM Monday to 10 AM PST Tuesday
for Spokane Area-Upper Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse.
Blizzard Warning from 4 PM Monday to 10 AM PST Wednesday for
Northeast Blue Mountains.
Winter Storm Warning from 2 PM Monday to 10 PM PST Tuesday for
Northeast Mountains.
Winter Weather Advisory from 2 PM Monday to 4 PM PST Tuesday for
Okanogan Highlands.
Winter Storm Warning from 7 AM Monday to 10 AM PST Wednesday for
Central Chelan County.
Winter Storm Warning from 7 AM Monday to 4 AM PST Tuesday for
Western Chelan County.
Blizzard Warning from 4 AM Tuesday to 10 AM PST Wednesday for
Western Chelan County.
Winter Weather Advisory from 10 AM Monday to 10 AM PST Wednesday
for Western Okanogan County.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 heavy snow, 3 strong wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Observer reported 10 inches of snow 1 mile Northwest of Plain.
Observer reported a 24 hour total of 6.5 inches of snow 3 miles Southwest of Clayton. The area received 11.2 inches of snow between January 6 through January 10. Other reports in the area ranged from 6 to 10 inches. There were also reports of down power lines and trees from winds in the resulting in around 200 customers without power.
Observer estimated 8 inches of snow one mile Northwest of Republic.
Observer reported 15.5 inches of snow for Stevens Pass. The area also saw strong winds and blizzard conditions.
Observer recorded 9.2 inches of snow 2 miles Northwest of Mazama.
Multi-vehicle crash in heavy snow and icy roads east of Cashmere on Route 2. Multiple lanes closed.
Spokane International Airport gusted to 54 MPH several times on January 9. There were several power outages in the Spokane area with around 150 customers affected.
Pullman airport ASOS recorded gusts between 40 and 54 mph for the period. There were reports of several power outages impacting 664 customers.
Washington DOT closed Blewett Pass due to 30 trees being downed by winds and snow. There were blizzard conditions reported in the area. There were also reported of downed power lines near Telma and Plain.
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, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1159423, 1159870, 1159427, 1158979, 1159224, 1159426, 1159562, 1159601, 1159424.