11/29/2022
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KREM
The Center Square
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KREM
One of the strongest winter storms in years will likely produce more than a foot of snow for some in the Inland Northwest.
SPOKANE, Wash. — One of the biggest snowstorms we've seen in possibly years is forecast to hit Spokane and the Inland Northwest on Wednesday.
Early indications are that some cities may be digging out from more than 12 inches of snow when it's all said and done.
Active Weather Alerts
Winter Storm Warnings have been issued for parts of northern and central Washington. This includes Omak, Grand Coulee, and Ritzville.
Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Moses Lake.
Winter Storm Watches are still in effect for eastern Washington and North Idaho. This includes Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, and Pullman.
Quick refresher, Watches are divided up into warnings and advisories leading into the event. Warnings are the more severe criteria.
Why so much snow?
The weather setup is cold arctic air is currently in place and stays put this week. And when a strengthening storm out of the North Pacific arrives, the overrunning deep bands of moisture will produce heavy snow throughout the region with few exceptions.
The key ingredient is the atmosphere will have about 0.4 - 0.5 inches of precipitable water, which is exceedingly high for the winter season. If all that were rain, then it'd be 0.4 to 0.5 inches. But as snow that's approximately 5 to 6 inches.
Then the topography does the rest of the work, which squeezes out the moisture as snowfall while the supply of moisture from the Pacific Ocean is continuously fed into the region. This is what gives the mountains feet of snow over the course of a single storm.
How much snow?
The forecast as of Monday morning is for approximately 8" inches of snow in Spokane and upwards of 12-16" for a corridor to the north; near Chewelah, Newport, and Sandpoint. This forecast can and will change, so check back for any updates.
Another metric we look at as meteorologist is the probability for a minimum amount of snow. For Spokane, there's a 95%+ chance for 4" of snow. It's about 50% chance for 8". And just shy of 10% chance for 12" of snow! So it's not likely, but not impossible to get a foot of snow.
There's a 40-50% chance of 12" or more of snow for the corridor referenced earlier, Chewelah, Newport, to Sandpoint.
Area mountains in North Idaho could see 1-2 feet of snow and the Cascades likely even more.
Timing
Snow will begin late Tuesday night around 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. for Omak and spread to northern Washington by midnight. It'll last all day Wednesday and into Thursday.
In Spokane, the onset for snow will begin between around midnight Tuesday night. The heaviest snow will be in the morning hours Wednesday, particularly between 3:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Snow showers will continue into Thursday which will continue to add to the snow totals.
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The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Two Washington state cities – Seattle and Spokane – made Point2Home’s recent study on how much money and space homebuyers have lost in a housing market that is increasingly rough on buyers.
To calculate the losses in buying power since last year, the Saskatoon, Canada-based real estate marketplace website reviewed data on the median household income from 200 of the nation’s biggest cities, looking at how much house the median-income homebuyer could afford in 2021 and 2022, after the Federal Reserve’s most recent interest rate hike sent mortgage rates soaring well above 7%.
Seattle is among the top 10 cities – coming in at No. 7 – in terms of where buyers have lost the most home purchasing power. Home seekers in Washington’s largest city must find homes that cost $165,106 less than what they could afford in 2021.
In 2021, homebuyers in Seattle could afford homes worth up to $619,188. Now the average home seeker looking for an affordable home in the Emerald City would need to find one that costs $454,083.
Losses in living space were also significant for buyers in Seattle, with more than 315 square feet, or the equivalent of more than two bedrooms, over the year.
According to the Point2Homes study, the share of homes an average buyer can afford represents 11% of all available inventory in Seattle.
The average buyer in Spokane – Washington’s second largest city – fares a little better in terms of a loss of buying power in the amount of $83,458.
In 2021, homebuyers in Spokane could afford homes worth up to $319,828. Now the average home seeker looking for an affordable home there would need to locate one that costs $236,328.
Spokane buyers lost 523 square feet of living space in 2022, which translates into more than three bedrooms.
The share of homes an average buyer can afford in the eastern Washington city represents less than 10% of all available inventory in Spokane.
In October 2022, home prices in Washington were up 4.4% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $588,800, according to Redfin. On average, the number of homes sold was down 36.7% year over year. There were 8,108 homes sold in October this year, which was down 12,802 homes sold in October 2021. The median days on the market was 26, up from 15 days in the previous year.
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