Washington Palouse storm history

Two passengers were killed and two others were injured when a car lost control on icy roads and ran head on into a semi-truck. One passenger was ejected from the car.

Slushy snow accumulations and excessive speed were responsible for a two car accident along Highway 270, seven miles east of Pullman. One driver was killed and the other was injured with the driver in the westbound lane loss control and crossed into the eastbound lane. The time o…

Three kayakers capsized on Rock Lake when strong southwest winds created high waves. This particular lake is oriented southwest to northeast with steep rock walls. Consequently, if a boater capsizes on Rock Lake, it can be difficult to get out of the water due to the very steep s…

Siegel Fire started on July 2 by suspected human cause. It was located 14 miles south of Cheney. It burned 700 acres of timber. It was contained on July 16. Cost is estimated.

Pullman Airport recorded a gust of 81 MPH at 0542 LST. Colton mesonet station recorded a gust of 70 mph at 0520 LST. Two semi trucks blown over on US 195 at MP 3.5 and 10 near Uniontown. An elevator storage building collapsed in the wind in Latah next to SR 27. Damage cost is est…

Station GW6549 at Tekoa measured a gust of 58 mph. Power outages were reported in the Palouse area.

Pullman Airport recorded a gust of 60 MPH. The area had 588 customers without power.

A semi-truck lost control on the icy road and jackknifed into the opposing lane around 0720 AM PST. This cascaded into a multi-vehicle accident involving 3 cars and 2 semi-trucks total.

Several reports of dust storm reducing visibility to around quarter of mile during the afternoon. The area covered was Oakesdale to South of Palouse and along state route 195 near Steptoe to the the Idaho border. Time is estimated from satellite data.

Washington DOT reported road buckling at US195 in two locations south of Rosalia. First location quickly repaired with a second location reported just south of the first one.

The fire started on June 14 from unknown human cause. It was contained on June 16. It burned 1221 acres of short grass and brush. Cost is estimated.

Observer estimated 6 inches of snow in Tekoa. Another report of 4.8 inches was reported 3 miles Northeast of Colfax.

Pullman airport ASOS recorded gusts between 40 and 54 mph for the period. There were reports of several power outages impacting 664 customers.

Observer estimated 6 inches of snow 2 miles northwest of Tekoa. Other reports ranged from 0.5 to 3 inches.

Station DW6220 located 2 miles West of Pullman recorded a gust of 59 MPH at 1330PM.

Human causes started the Winona Wildfire near the town of Winona and 4 miles west of Endicott, WA. It burned 2525 acres of grassland. No structures lost.

Lightning started the wildfire on July 24. It was contained on July 28. It burned 526 acres of grassland and brush. No structures lost.

Fire started on July 12 from unknown cause. It was contained on July 14. It burned 1700 acres of brush. No structures lost.

Observer estimated eight inches of snow in Waverly. Another report of six inches was estimated in Latah. Whitman County snow amounts ranged from one to four inches.

Pullman airport recorded gust of 61 mph. Other gusts in the area were in the low 50 mph range.

Observer in Thornton area recorded 5.3 inches of snow at 0700LST Nov 30 for Nov 29-30. Pullman saw ranges of 4 to 6 icnhes. Rosalia had a report of 8 inches. Breezy winds also caused issues with drifting snow on area roadways.

Station DW6220 reported a gust of 74 MPH. Powerlines were knocked down.

The Wagner Road Fire is located 12 miles west of St. John, WA. This fire started on Thursday, August 18th and has burned approximately 7,381 acres of rangeland, stubble and standing wheat.

A combine caught fire South of Hay. The fire spread into nearby grass and grew to 5680 acres. It burned from the afternoon of August 4 until August 7. The driver of the combine was injured. No structures lost.

Public recorded a measurement of 6 inches in the Colfax area at 1011LST.

Site near Pullman WA recorded a gust of 60 MPH at 1200LST. Other stations across the zone recorded gusts of 40s to low 50s MPH.

A major winter storm brought heavy, fresh snow, and freezing rain followed by strong winds to the Washington Palouse. There were 24 hour snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches in Pullman, Colfax, and Oaksdale on January 6th. Blowing and drifting snow closed roads and led to acciden…

Numerous state routes across the Washington Palouse were closed due to blowing and drifting snow. Fresh snow and strong winds led to white conditions throughout the morning.

Snow began to accumulate around 0000 PST and tapered off by 1600 PST. A total of 4 to 6 inches of snow fell from across the Washington Palouse, including Pullman and Colfax. There were reports of drifting snow and poor driving conditions across U.S. Highway 195 and State Route 26…

Widespread gusts of 50-63 mph were recorded across Whitman County. The Pullman-Moscow Airport ASOS site reached a peak wind gust of 63 mph in the late afternoon. There were trained spotter reports of downed trees across the Palouse and Pullman areas. The high winds lead to damage…

The Steptoe Canyon Fire started on July 21st and burned a total 2,605 acres before it was contained on July 27th. The cause of ignition was due to lightning from thunderstorms that passed through the area that evening. There were homes, rangeland, and crops threatened. There are …

Two new all time records were set across the Palouse. The town of Rosalia set a new all-time maximum temperature of 111 degrees on June 28th and Pullman reached 106 degrees on June 29th. There was a report, from the Washington State Department of Transportation, that there was pa…

A CoCoRaHS observer in Thorton measured a 59 mph maximum wind gust on March 28th. The time is an estimate based on other peak winds in the area.

Heavy snow and breezy winds created blowing snow and dangerous road conditions across the Washington Palouse. Widespread snow fell - from 4 inches in Oakesdale, 8 inches in Pullman, and 12 inches in Dusty. Winds, with gusts to 35 mph, created blowing snow, which limited visibilit…

A member of the public in Rosalia reported that a vinyl fence was destroyed by the wind and created a large debris field about two blocks away.

A member of the public, in Colfax, reported 7.2 inches of new snow accumulation.

A trained spotter, in Oakesdale, recorded 8.5 inches of new snow accumulation.

Heavy snow accumulation was not as widespread in the Washington Palouse, compared to locations to its north, but there were spotter and CoCoRaHS reports from 4 to 8.5 inches of new snow.

Gusty winds were measured to 55 mph at the Pullman/Moscow Airport. Pullman city law enforcement reported large trees down and two power poles broken with lines hanging. This left approximately 2,300 people without power and numerous road closures in Pullman.

Local broadcast media reported trees down on cars, homes, and blocking roadways in Pullman by the Washington State University campus.

An air quality sensor in Pullman recorded unhealthy air quality from September 12th through September 19th. It spiked to continuous hazardous conditions on September 13th through 15th. The arrival of a cold front on September 19th brought showers and westerly winds which ventilat…

The Washington Department of Transportation reported State Route 23 closed between St. John and Sprague due to blowing dust and wildfire smoke.

The Manning Road Wildfire, 13 miles northwest of Colfax, was ignited by unknown sources on September 7th. It was fueled by a high wind event and dry conditions. A total five structures were lost and acres damaged rose to 2,885 before containment a week later. The cost of fighting…

The Malden Wildfire was ignited by a tree on a powerline and fueled by high winds and dry conditions on September 7th. Eighty percent of the small community of Malden, and nearby town of Pine City, were destroyed by the fire. This included 121 homes, eight businesses, 94 other bu…

A member of the public reported blowing dust and strong winds between Colfax and Pullman along US-195. The visibility was estimated to be less than 1 mile.

A NWS employee observed near zero visibility due to blowing dust along Highway US-95, north of Colfax, Washington.

A local TV news reporter observed less than 1/2 mile visibility in Saint John, Washington from blowing dust.

Washington State Patrol reported that State Route 26 in southwest Whitman County was fully blocked three miles west of Dusty, Washington. An accident involving a semi-truck and two cars occurred due to near zero visibility from blowing dust. There were no injuries. The highway wa…

The COOP observer in Rosalia recorded 4.4 inches of new snow accumulation from this storm.