Heavy Snow — Waterville Plateau, Washington

2018-01-27 · Waterville Plateau, Washington

Event narrative

A member of the public near Waterville reported 4.0 inches of new snow accumulation. The COOP observer at Chief Joseph Dam just north of the sparsely populated Waterville Plateau recorded 4.7 inches of new snow accumulation.

Wider weather episode

A moist warm front overran cold air trapped against the Cascades during the early morning hours of January 27th. Heavy snow accumulations in the Wenatchee area and on the Waterville Plateau resulted. Moderate accumulations of 2 to 4 inches of snow were noted in the Okanogan Valley as well as the mountains and valleys of northeast Washington.

In the Cascades, the southern valleys south of Lake Chelan received heavy snow accumulations with 8 to 10 inches in the Wenatchee River and Entiat River Valleys. This heavy wet snow toppled trees and produced scattered power outages in the upper Wenatchee Valley. Areas north of Lake Chelan received moderate amounts of snow in the 4 to 6 inch range, which is below heavy snow criteria and not unusual for winter in these valleys.

A following cold front ended the precipitation by dawn in the Cascades, but then strong post frontal winds developed over the area. A wind sensor on Mission Peak at 6730 feet elevation recorded a westerly gust of 110 mph. Some of these high winds aloft descended down the east slopes of the Cascades and channeled through the Wenatchee Valley and produced damage in the Wenatchee area during the afternoon hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 730086. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.