Flooding in Washington, March 14, 2026

Name: Flooding in Washington, March 14, 2026
Start: 2026-03-14T00:30
End: 2026-03-14T19:12
Location: Washington

March 14, 2026 · NWS OTX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

5 inches fell in the Palouse area from March 13 through the 14. It led to flooding in the City of Pullman.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $35,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 OTX wrote it up.

Precip amounts of 2 to 2.5 inches fell in the Palouse area from March 13 through the 14. It led to flooding in the City of Pullman.

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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 14, 12:17 AM PST, 13 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

Heavy rain into Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and Camas Prairie will increase the risk of river and small stream flooding this morning.
Drier and warmer next week in the lowlands.
Rain on snow in the Cascades next week increases hydrology concerns.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 12:17 AM PST, 13 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
117 AM PDT Sat Mar 14 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Heavy rain into Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and Camas Prairie
  will increase the risk of river and small stream flooding this
  morning.

- Drier and warmer next week in the lowlands.

- Rain on snow in the Cascades next week increases hydrology
  concerns.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Rain over the Palouse into the southern Idaho Panhandle will
lead to rises on rivers and small streams this morning. Drier
and breezy over the weekend and warming above normal next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Today: Light to moderate rain and snow will continue the next
few hours in SE WA and the central/southern ID Panhandle as a
cold front sags south. The front is nearly parallel with I-90
through WA and north ID. An additional 1-2 inches of snow is
possible especially for higher elevations of Benewah, Latah, and
Shoshone counties in ID. The flood advisory in SE WA and
central/south ID has been upgraded to a flood warning with
reports of flooded roads as moderate rain continues this
morning. Rivers will start to decrease after the rain ends later
this morning. The cold front will move southeast out of the
area by sunrise ushering in drier conditions and gusty northwest
winds (sustained 10-25 mph, gusting up to 40 mph, especially in
SE WA, L-C valley, and the Camas Prairie). Temperatures today
will be cool in the 30s and 40s. Temperatures tonight will be
cold in the 20s as winds decrease and dry air allows for strong
radiational cooling.

Sunday and Monday: Sunday will be dry and cool in the morning hours
but a warm front associated with a deepening low pressure in
the Gulf of Alaska draws more subtropical moisture to the
Pacific Northwest. This brings light rains to the valleys and
other 1-2 inches for Stevens Pass and Lookout Pass Sunday night
into Monday.

Tuesday through Saturday: Next week looks quite mild and wet
near the Cascade crest. Temperatures will climb into the 50s and
60s by midweek (and even 70s in the lower Basin/L-C valley). The
National Blend has 1-3 inches of rain near the Cascade crest
which brings potential for hydrology issues combined with snow.
The Stehekin river is forecast to crest near 21.5 feet by Friday
next week. The Idaho Panhandle will see much less rain around
0.10 to 0.5 inches as the AR plume displaced to the west. DB

&&

.AVIATION...
06Z TAFS: A cold front will sweep across northwest to southeast
tonight between 06-12Z and rain and snow will decrease. This
will push the moisture plume with the Atmospheric River (AR) off
to the southeast with it. Drier air behind the front will bring
improvements to ceilings and clear out the low clouds through
the course of Saturday. It may take until the afternoon before
the low clouds mix out of KGEG/KSFF/KCOE-KPUW/KLWS airport
terminals though. Stronger winds mixing down with the front and
a tightening pressure gradient will also result in gusty west to
southwest winds on Saturday. Low level wind shear is expected
at KPUW tonight until around 12Z.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence
for widespread MVFR-IFR conditions and eventual improvements
later in the morning and early afternoon.

-----------------------

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        41  22  42  33  49  41 /  40   0   0  60  30  20
Coeur d'Alene  41  18  40  32  47  40 /  70  10   0  70  60  50
Pullman        39  25  41  35  51  43 /  80  10   0  60  50  30
Lewiston       49  30  48  39  57  45 /  80  10   0  50  30  20
Colville       44  20  43  30  48  35 /  30   0   0  60  40  20
Sandpoint      39  18  39  30  44  38 /  80  30   0  70  80  60
Kellogg        36  16  38  32  46  42 /  90  40  10  80  80  70
Moses Lake     47  27  47  35  59  41 /   0   0   0  10  10   0
Wenatchee      42  26  42  33  56  40 /   0   0   0  30  30  10
Omak           46  26  44  33  51  38 /  10   0   0  40  20  10

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM PDT early this morning for
     Spokane Area-Washington Palouse.
     Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM PDT early this morning for
     Western Chelan County.
ID...Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM PDT early this morning for
     Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse.
     Winter Storm Warning until 11 AM PDT this morning for Central
     Panhandle Mountains.

&&

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 13, 9:57 PM PST, 2 hours 33 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1057 PM PDT Fri Mar 13 2026

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

0908 PM     Flood            1 W Moscow              46.73N 117.02W
03/13/2026                   Latah              ID   Public

            Soccer fields on west side of Guy Wicks
            Field flooded.

1030 PM     Flood            Moscow                  46.72N 117.00W
03/13/2026                   Latah              ID   Public

            Facebook photo of Berman Creekside Park
            flooded.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 13, 10:04 PM PST, 2 hours 26 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1104 PM PDT Fri Mar 13 2026

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

0903 PM     Flood            2 NE Moscow             46.74N 116.97W
03/13/2026                   Latah              ID   Public

            Mountain View Rd on the SE side of the
            roundabout is closed. The road is completely
            submerged.

&&

DB

Local storm report, Mar 13, 10:25 PM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1125 PM PDT Fri Mar 13 2026

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

1125 PM     Snow             1 WSW Blanchard         48.01N 117.00W
03/13/2026  M6.5 Inch        Bonner             ID   Trained Spotter

&&

DB

Local storm report, Mar 13, 10:26 PM PST, 2 hours 4 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1126 PM PDT Fri Mar 13 2026

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

1100 PM     Snow             2 SSW Leavenworth       47.57N 120.68W
03/13/2026  M14.0 Inch       Chelan             WA   Trained Spotter

            1.52 inch SWE.

&&

DB

Local storm report, Mar 13, 10:44 PM PST, 1 hour 46 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1144 PM PDT Fri Mar 13 2026

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

0940 AM     Flood            3 NW Lapwai             46.45N 116.85W
03/13/2026                   Nez Perce          ID   Law Enforcement

            Rock slide closed US-12 at MP 15 per Nez
            Perce County Sheriff and ITD.

&&

DB

Local storm report, Mar 13, 11:10 PM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1210 AM PDT Sat Mar 14 2026

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

1140 PM     Flood            1 NNW Moscow            46.74N 117.00W
03/13/2026                   Latah              ID   Public

            Standing water across US-95.

&&

DB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Whitman

When: March 14, 12:30 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where: Whitman County, 0.47 mi E of Pullman to 0.66 mi NNE of Pullman
Cause: Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: Local Official
Coordinates: 46.730, -117.170

South Fork Palouse River flooding, with minor to moderate flooding in areas across Pullman, including downtown, Grand Avenue, and the area around the City Playfields. Water covered N Grand north of NW Windus St. NE Morton St by Reaney pool was flooded across all lanes. Grand Avenue closed from Nye to Ritchie. Main Street from Spring to Pine was closed. Morton Street near Reaney Park closed due to flooding.

Flood, Whitman

When: March 14, 5:12 PM PST to 7:12 PM PST
Where: Whitman County, 5.6 mi WSW of Armstrong to 5.59 mi SW of Albion
Cause: Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 46.740, -117.330

SR 194 about 5 miles west of Pullman has been reduced to a single lane due to a washout caused by a failed culvert.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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: 1328235, 1328236.