Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 1, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 1, 2001
Start: 2001-12-01T00:00
End: 2001-12-01T23:45
Location: Idaho

December 1, 2001 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy snow fell over Clearwater County. 24 hour snowfall totals were: 11 inches at Hemlocke Butte, 18 inches at Elk Butte, and 7 inches at Pierce.

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.

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Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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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 MSO wrote it up.

Heavy snow fell over Clearwater County. 24 hour snowfall totals were: 11 inches at Hemlocke Butte, 18 inches at Elk Butte, and 7 inches at Pierce.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 30, 8:30 PM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 8:30 PM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
830 PM MST FRI NOV 30 2001

A WEAK WAVE IS MOVING ACROSS THE CWA TONIGHT...FROM MSX RADAR AND
SURFACE REPORTS IT APPEARS THAT THE MAIN SNOWFALL HAS BEEN CONFINED
TO THE MOUNTAINS. THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP TONIGHT STILL LOOKS TO
BE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST SECTION OF THE CWA AS THE WAVE ROTATES
ACROSS THE AREA. WILL ONLY EXPECT SOME LIGHT SNOW IN THE VALLEY
LOCATIONS. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE GRANGEVILLE
AND HELLS CANYON AREAS. CURRENT FORECAST HAS THE CONDITIONS COVERED
WELL...NO UPDATES AT THIS TIME. KOLATA

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB SJS 023/033 026/032 020/029 35676336
     CJJJ 018/028 016/027 020/030 021/032 3633444455
FCA SES 026/035 025/031 018/027 35565246
     CJJJ 017/027 015/026 019/029 020/031 3633444455
POL SES 029/036 028/033 024/030 35454256
     CJJJ 022/030 019/028 021/031 023/032 3633444455
MSO EEJ 024/036 026/032 020/031 35343256
     CJJJ 018/029 017/027 020/030 021/032 3633444455
HMM EEJ 026/039 027/034 022/032 35343256
     CJJJ 020/030 018/029 021/032 023/034 3623344455
BTM EEJ 013/033 017/030 014/030 35232154
     ECCC 012/027 010/025 013/028 015/029 3622333344
ORO OCO 033/043 031/040 032/040 35876356
     JJOO 025/035 023/034 026/037 027/039 3634444455
GRV OCJ 030/040 029/037 028/037 35665256
     JJJJ 022/033 020/032 023/034 024/035 3634444455
SMN EEJ 019/034 022/032 020/029 35232153
     ECCC 016/029 013/026 015/027 017/030 3622333344

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Clearwater Mountains

When: December 1, 12:00 AM MST to 11:45 PM MST
Where: Northern Clearwater Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.674, -115.657 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, December 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: 5273780.