Winter Weather — Spokane Area, Washington

2024-12-05 · Spokane Area, Washington

Event narrative

At 0815 PST, a tanker containing fuel crashed and caught fire 12 miles west of Cheney near milepost 266. One fatality was reported. Interstate 90 was closed for 2 hours. Light freezing rain was occuring at the time with Spokane Airport ASOS reporting trace amounts. It is believed to be have been a contributing factor.

Wider weather episode

Prolonged stratus under an upper level ridge pattern brought periods of freezing fog and light freezing drizzle across the region. Locations across the region reported amounts of trace to 0.1 of ice accumulation. It caused hazardous travel conditions leading to vehicle accidents across the region. Two fatal wrecks were attributed to the icy conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1229374. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.