Flood — Spokane, Washington

2014-02-12 to 2014-02-14 · near Coey, Spokane, Washington

Event narrative

Numerous areas across Spokane County experienced flooding on the 12th of February. Due to frozen grounds, the flood problems persisted through the 14th in some cases. A small ice jam on Coulee Heights Creek caused the creek to become diverted and flow into a private residence. Water was approximately five feet deep in the garage and surrounding home. A NWS employee observed up to two inches of water with some mud and small debris flowing down Rambo Road just north of the Forecast Office. Water was over a foot deep along the shoulders. The swift water washed out portions of the shoulder and foundation to the edges of the pavement. A few blocks away from the Forecast Office, water flooded the West Prairie Village Mobile home park located on the corner of Craig and Haid Lane. It was estimated that one to two feet of water filled sections of the park. In southern sections of the county, many secondary roads were flooded in low crossings. State route 27 just north of Latah near milepost 58 was impassible for a period of time due to water over the road. Water was also over the roadway along SR 2 two miles west of Airway Heights. Damage extended into the Spokane Valley with damage or flooding observed near the intersection of Sanson and MacDonald, Crown Street at Forker Draw, Ridgemont Estates on Shamrock Street, and Thorpe Road at Chester Creek.

Wider weather episode

Numerous areas across the Idaho Panhandle dealt with flooding during the second week of February. While minor flooding is a common occurrence during the late winter months when warmer temperatures, wind, and rain fall on valley snowpack, there was one ingredient of this event that made it unique and rather intense for many locations. This was the intrusion of two Arctic air masses; one in December and one in February. These bitterly cold air masses arrived in the absence of valley snow pack and froze the ground hard and deep. Shortly after the second Arctic air mass, snow began falling across the region with anywhere between six and twelve inches of valley snowfall. Then came an atmospheric river. This drove temperatures and dewpoints above freezing, led to windy conditions, and brought moderate to heavy rainfall. Nearly all the valley snowpack melted in a span of 24 hours. Due to the rock hard ground, rain and snow melt could not percolate into the frozen ground equating to nearly 100 percent runoff. This led to big problems in hilly terrain, low spots, and areas susceptible to poor drainage. Some school districts were forced to delay school because buses were unable to navigate muddy or flooded back roads.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.5138, -117.0703)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 499243. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.