Frost/Freeze in Washington

Events

54

Deaths

1

Injuries

1

Damage

$205 million

• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 19 to 22, 2008$105 million · 1 eventFreezing morning temperatures from April 19th through April 22nd resulted extensive crop damage. In the Wenatchee area, there was an estimated loss of 90 million dollars to the cherry crop, and 15 million to the pear crop.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, December 14, 20211 death · 1 injured · $20,000 · 1 eventA teenager was killed in a morning car crash, likely due to icy roads.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 12 to 13, 2005$50 million · 1 eventFreezing temperatures led to crop damage in the Yakima Valley. The low temperature at the Yakima Airport dropped to 20 degrees on April 13th, tieing the record low temperature for the month of April.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 13 to 14, 2005$50 million · 1 eventFreezing temperatures led to crop damage in the Yakima Valley. The low temperature at the Yakima Airport dropped to 23 degrees on April 14th. An estimated $50 million dollars of crop damage was done to the cherry crop from this freeze alone.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, February 23, 2003$20,000 · 1 eventEarly morning low temperatures in the teens led to spotty freeze conditions in some Mattawa orchards where the peach and apple trees were coming out of dormancy.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 18 to 20, 20247 eventsClear skies in combination with dry flow regimes aloft resulted in good radiative cooling taking place at the surface. Temperatures in the morning had dropped to or below freezing for several hours in lower elevation locations between April 18th to the 20th.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, October 25 to 28, 20236 eventsIncreasing northerly flow reinforced by a cold arctic airmass behind a shortwave trough passage starting October 26th lead to temperatures region-wide dropping well below normal.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, November 3, 20224 eventsNortherly flow aloft and mostly clear skies the morning of November 3rd led to several hours of temperatures at or below 32 degrees across the Blue Mountain Foothills, the Columbia Basin, the eastern Columbia River Gorge, the Simcoe Highlands, and north central Oregon.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 20, 20233 eventsA persistent cold airmass near the surface and clear skies in the morning resulted in freezing morning lows in the Eastern Columbia River Gorge, areas of the Blue Mountain Foothills, and the Yakima/Kittitas valleys the morning of April 20th.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, October 18, 20243 eventsCold air advection behind a upper trough exit resulted in morning temperatures cooling well below freezing across portions of the lower elevations in southeast Washington and northeast Oregon.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 22 to 23, 20243 eventsClear skies in combination with dry flow regimes aloft resulted in good radiative cooling taking place at the surface. Temperatures in the morning had drop to or below freezing for several lower elevation locations between April 22nd to the 23rd.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 17, 20243 eventsA cool airmass over the region along with clearing skies resulted in freezing temperatures during the growing season which is April 1st to October 31st.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, November 2, 20222 eventsA trough over the region and northerly winds aloft pushed a cold airmass into the region, with the northern valley zones feeling the impacts by the morning of November 2nd.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 15, 20232 eventsDry conditions and clearing skies allowed for temperatures to drop below freezing across portions of the Columbia Basin and and foothills of the Blue Mountains the morning of April 15th.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 17, 20232 eventsCold air advection behind a cold front passage the previous day, in combination with clearing skies overnight led to temperatures in the Kittitas and Yakima valleys dropping to below freezing in the morning.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 18, 20232 eventsAn upper low pressure system taking on a negative tilt offshore the PacNW continued to advect a cooler airmass into the region, resulting in morning low temperatures dropping to below freezing.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 19, 20232 eventsA persistent negatively tilted trough over the PacNW conintued to usher in a cooler airmass in the region.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, October 30, 20242 eventsNortherly flow aloft followed by high pressure allowed for freezing temperatures to settle in over the lowest elevations of the forecast area the night of October 29 into the morning of the 30th.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 17, 20252 eventsOn the morning of April 17th, northerly flow over the Pacific Northwest allowed for temperatures to drop below freezing for much of the lowlands of the forecast area.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 21, 20231 eventStubborn cold air and dry conditions near the surface resulted in the Yakima valley experiencing freezing morning low temperatures on April 21st.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, October 23 to 24, 20241 eventClearing skies and cold air advection the night of October 23rd through the morning of the 24th resulted in temperatures cooling below freezing in the Yakima valley in Washington and across north central Oregon.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, October 25, 20241 eventA cold air mass moving in, combined with clear and stable conditions, allowed for widespread freezing temperatures to occur across the forecast area the morning of the 25th.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, May 2, 20241 eventAn upper low pressure system tracking over the Pacific Northwest brought a cooler airmass to the region, which resulted in several hours of freezing temperatures developing the morning of May 2nd in the Kittitas valley.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 17, 20241 eventDrier upper level trough moving through W WA caused for some cooler overnight temperatures that broke records throughout the region.
• Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 23, 20251 eventDry and cool northwesterly flow aloft, followed by a high pressure ridge, allowed for a calm and clear night across the forecast area, leading to early morning temperatures at or below freezing.

Frost/Freeze everywhereEvery kind of event in Washington

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.