High Wind in Washington, March 11 to 12, 2026

Name: High Wind in Washington, March 11 to 12, 2026
Start: 2026-03-11T16:00
End: 2026-03-12T10:00
Location: Washington

March 11 to 12, 2026 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front passage and strong winds aloft mixing down to the surface the evening of the 11th through the morning of the 12th produced breezy to gusty conditions across portions of the Columbia Basin.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 11, 1:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

1. Heavy snow Tuesday night into Friday morning WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT 5 PM TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH 5 AM FRIDAY MORNING 2. Moderate snow continuing through this evening WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR LOWER SLOPES OF THE E. WA CASCADES and THE NORTHERN BLUES OF WASHIGNTON AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING ABOVE 3000 FEET and WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE LOWER SLOPES OF THE OR CASCADES REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON ABOVE 4500 FEET 3. Breezy winds will persist through the week HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT 5 PM WEDNESDAY THROUGH 11 AM THURSDAY

Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 1:05 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
205 PM PDT Wed Mar 11 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

1. Heavy snow Tuesday night into Friday morning

WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT 5 PM TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH 5 AM
FRIDAY MORNING

2. Moderate snow continuing through this evening

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR LOWER SLOPES OF THE E. WA CASCADES
and THE NORTHERN BLUES OF WASHIGNTON AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM PDT
THIS EVENING ABOVE 3000 FEET and WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR
THE LOWER SLOPES OF THE OR CASCADES REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM
PDT THIS AFTERNOON ABOVE 4500 FEET

3. Breezy winds will persist through the week

HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT 5 PM WEDNESDAY THROUGH 11 AM THURSDAY

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Current radar shows returns moving across the Cascades over
Snoqualmie Pass through Hyak and into Easton. Current webcams shows
moderate snowfall occurring through the aforementioned areas.Ground
observations at Bumping Ridge shows 9 inches of snowfall and Hyak
has reported 7.5 inches and 12 inches just north of Easton since
this morning. A short lull in moderate/heavy precipitation will
occur between now and early Tuesday morning before the cold front
moves across the WA Cascades causing the snow levels to drop back
down to below 2000 feet. A rain/snow mix will continue during the
brief lull with 40-60% confidence only 2 inches will accumulate ahead
of the next round. The next surge from this system will bring
expected amounts of 1-2 additional feet with 60-80% of the NBM raw
ensembles in agreement.

Winter weather advisories are in effect through 5 PM for the lower
east slopes of the OR Cascades through 5 PM for an additional snow
accumulation of 2 to 5 more inches on top of the recorded 8 inches
since 10 AM this morning (60-80% confidence). A winter weather
advisory is also in effect for the lower Slopes of the Eastern
Washington Cascades Crest for an additional 2-4 inches of snow
accumulation through 8 PM this evening. NBM raw ensembles show 60-
80% confidence in another 2-4 inches for both the OR Cascades and
40-60% confidence in 3-5 inches for the Northern Blues.

A high winds warning will go into effect after 5 PM Wednesday night
and remain through 11 AM Thursday for the: Lower Columbia Basin of
Oregon-Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon-Foothills
of the Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon-North Central Oregon-Lower
Columbia Basin of Washington-Foothills of the Blue Mountains of
Washington. Southwest winds of 25 to 35 mph sustained with gusts up
to 60 mph expected with 70-80% confidence. 90

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/...
VFR conditions to prevail through the period. AN atmospheric
river is impacting the region bringing rain to DLS/PDT/YKM/ALW,
with rain ending later this evening at sites PDT/ALW. Winds
will increase at all sites during the period, with peak winds
20-30kts and gusts 30-40kts at sites PDT/RDM/BDN/ALW after 5
PM. PSC is expected to see wind gusts to 45 kts (50-70%
confidence) with gusts to 55 kts possible (20-30% confidence). Winds
at sites DLS/YKM will be 15-20kts with gusts up to 30kts,
developing after 23Z and persisting through the end of the
period. There is a chance (20-35%) that low level wind shear may
impact all sites later this evening and overnight. That said,
there was high enough confidence to include wind shear at site
ALW after 03Z.

&&

.Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs...
PDT  43  53  38  52 /  50  80  90  80
ALW  44  53  39  50 /  80  80  90  90
PSC  46  57  39  54 /  30  40  60  70
YKM  39  52  33  52 /  80  50  50  70
HRI  46  55  40  53 /  40  60  70  70
ELN  35  44  32  44 /  90  60  60  70
RDM  39  56  39  57 /  30  50  40  30
LGD  41  48  41  53 /  90 100 100  90
GCD  43  53  43  57 /  30  70  70  50
DLS  42  50  40  53 /  90  90  80  80

&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...High Wind Warning from 5 PM this afternoon to 11 AM PDT
     Thursday for WAZ026-028-029-521.
     Winter Weather Advisory until 8 PM PDT this evening for WAZ030-
     523.
     Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM PDT Friday for WAZ522.
OR...High Wind Warning from 5 PM this afternoon to 11 AM PDT
     Thursday for ORZ044-507-508-510.
     Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for
     ORZ509.

&&

DISCUSSION...90
AVIATION...90

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 11, 11:24 AM PST, 4 hours 36 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
1224 PM PDT Wed Mar 11 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1220 PM     Snow             7 NNW Easton, Wa        47.34N 121.26W
03/11/2026  M12.0 Inch       Kittitas           WA   Public

            12 inches measured at 2600 feet.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 11, 12:45 PM PST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
145 PM PDT Wed Mar 11 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0143 PM     Snow             30 W Tieton             46.64N 121.39W
03/11/2026  E14.0 Inch       Yakima             WA   Trained Spotter

            Spotter reported 14 inches of new snow in
            the past 24 hours. Still snowing heavy.

&&

RQB

Local storm report, Mar 11, 3:55 PM PST, 5 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pendleton OR
455 PM PDT Wed Mar 11 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0453 PM     Snow             17 NW Roslyn            47.40N 121.40W
03/11/2026  M9.0 Inch        Kittitas           WA   CO-OP Observer

            9 inches since this morning.

&&

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin

When: March 11, 4:00 PM PST to March 12, 10:00 AM PST
Where: Lower Columbia Basin forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
Reported by: RAWS
Coordinates: 46.220, -119.419 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Juniper Dunes RAWS recorded a 70 mph gust at 0249 PDT on March 12th. The mesonet station PC048 located 14 miles southeast of Burbank recorded a 62 mph gust at 0330 PDT on March 12th. The mesonet station AV456 located 4 miles south southwest of Benton City recorded a 61 mph gust at 0210 PDT on March 12th.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2026 Every state in 2026 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, March 2026

Sources

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: 1328483.