Blizzard — Moses Lake Area, Washington

2017-01-10 to 2017-01-11 · Moses Lake Area, Washington

Event narrative

The Grant County Sheriff reported areas of near zero visibility and many vehicles stuck in snow drifts on county roads and state routes in the Quincy and Winchester area. The ASOS observations from nearby Moses Lake Airport and Ephrata Airport reported 25 to 30 mph sustained winds with gusts to 35 mph during this time frame.

Wider weather episode

An arctic air mass invaded the region creating windy conditions over the Columbia Basin. Sustained northeast winds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts as high as 40 mph created blowing and drifting snow with low visibility in the Moses lake area and Waterville Plateau during the afternoon and evening of January 10th. Numerous cars had to be abandoned in snow drifts overnight and some roads were closed through the night. In the Palouse region several vehicles were stranded in drifting snow along Highway 27 between Fairfield and Tekoa. Heavy equipment dispatched to clear the road also became temporarily stuck.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 676862. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.