Idaho, 2001

Winter Storm in Idaho, April 10 to 11, 2001

April 10 to 11, 2001 · NWS BOI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An unseasonably cold and strong storm system from the north spread snow over the higher elevations of Southwest Idaho. Six inches of snow was reported on South Mountain while 4 inches fell in Reynolds.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS BOI wrote it up.

An unseasonably cold and strong storm system from the north spread snow over the higher elevations of Southwest Idaho. Six inches of snow was reported on South Mountain while 4 inches fell in Reynolds. The storm system moved eastward, eventually dropping 15 inches of snow at the Pomerelle ski area of Southeast Idaho and causing dozens of motor vehicle slide-offs and accidents.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 10, 1:25 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 1:25 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
225 PM MDT TUE APR 10 2001

SHORT WAVE TROUGH SWRN CANADA DEVELOPS INTO CLOSED LOW TONIGHT AS
IT DROPS SWD THROUGH WA AND OREGON...REACHING MAXIMUM STRENGTH IN
SERN OREGON WED BEFORE OPENING AGAIN AND TURNING SEWD INTO NV AND
UT.  NRN ORIGIN OF STORM PREVENTS ACCESS TO JUICIER SUBTROP MOISTURE
BUT PLENTY OF DYNAMICS (UVV) AND IDEAL TRACK SSEWD THROUGH OUR WRN
ZONES ENOUGH FOR WINTER STORM WARNING IN OREGON ZONES AND OWYHEE
MOUNTAINS...AND HIGH-END ADVISORY FOR WRN IDAHO MOUNTAIN ZONES LATE
TONIGHT AND WED.  WILL INCLUDE CAMAS PRAIRIE ZONE (28) IN SNOW
ADVISORY BUT WITH LESS ACCUMULATION SINCE THAT ZONE WILL BE
FURTHER FROM MAIN STORM TRACK.  COLD ENOUGH FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW
DOWN TO 3.5K WHICH MEANS RAIN/SNOW MIX FOR LOWER SWRN IDAHO VALLEYS
WED...AND LOCAL WET SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO AN INCH.  STORM WEAKENS
AND EXITS THU NIGHT BUT ANOTHER RELATIVELY WEAKER TRAILING SHORT
WAVE PASSES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT WITH MORE SHOWERS (MAINLY SNOW).

EXTENDED...GENERAL WARMING TREND FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS UPPER
FLOW EVOLVES INTO LONG WAVE RIDGE.  FEEBLE EMBEDDED SHORT WAVE
TROUGHS KEEP CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW SHOWERS FRI AND SAT IN NRN ZONES
BUT AFTER THAT ITS ALL RIDGING FOR SUNNIER AND MUCH WARMER WX BY
EALRY NEXT WEEK.  L COLIN

.BOI...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING
        ABOVE 3500 FEET...OREGON ZONES 61-63 AND IDAHO ZONE 29.
       SNOW ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY WRN IDAHO ZONES
        ABOVE 3500 FEET...ZONES 11 13 15.
       SNOW ADVISORY WEDNESDAY SOUTHWEST IDAHO HIGHLANDS AND
        CAMAS9 PRAIRIE...ZONES 15 28.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Owyhee Mountains

When
April 10, 3:00 PM MST to April 11, 1:50 PM MST
Where
Owyhee Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.582, -116.170 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5243882.