High Wind — Spokane Area, Washington

2015-11-17 · Spokane Area, Washington

Event narrative

The ASOS at Spokane International Airport 3 miles east southeast of Airway Heights, WA reported a wind gust of 61 MPH at 2:50 PM PST. The windstorm that resulted in this wind gust resulted in four fatalities. Two direct and two indirect. The two indirect fatalities include A 66 year old man died from a stroke and was unable to seek help and found on November 29th and the second indirect fatality includes a 70 year old man who died from hypothermia who was discovered on November 22nd. The two direct fatalities include a 54 year old woman who was killed by a falling tree limb on the South Hill of Spokane and a 70 year old woman who died near Cheney after a falling tree hit her car.

Wider weather episode

An intense surface low pressure system moved from west to east along the Southern British Columbia border and dragged a cold front through as well. The resulting high winds brought about substantial damage across Eastern Washington....and resulted in widespread power outages and is noted as the most damage seen by Avista utilities from a natural disaster in its 126-year history with an estimated 180,000 Avista utilities customers without power at peak after the windstorm. Four fatalities (two directly and two indirectly) have been attributed to the windstorm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 602904. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.