Name: Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 16 to 17, 2001
Start: 2001-12-16T23:00
End: 2001-12-17T16:00
Location: Idaho

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 PIH wrote it up.

6 to 12 inches of snow was recorded at SNOTEL sites between 6500 and 8000 feet in the central mountains and eastern highlands of southeast Idaho. Other reports were 7 inches at Driggs, 6 inches at Bellevue, 7 inches at Clayton, 6 inches at Chesterfield, 4 inches at Lava Hot Springs, 4 inches at Picabo, 4 inches at Swan Valley, 4 inches at Holbrook, 3 inches at Soda Springs, 3 inches at Island Park, and 3 inches at Sun Valley.

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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 8:50 PM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 8:50 PM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes before

SOUTHEAST IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
850 PM MST SUN DEC 16 2001

SNOW A LITTLE SLOW TO DEVELOP TONIGHT OVER SE ID. NEW MODEL OUTPUT
SOMEWHAT LESS IMPRESSIVE...HOWEVER STILL SUGGESTS PRECIP OVER MOST
OF CWA THRU MONDAY.  LOOKS AS THOUGH SNOW WILL DEVELOP MORE TOWARD
MORNING HOURS.

TEMPS SEEM TO BE RUNNING AS EXPECTED.  ONLY CHANGES TO ZFP WILL BE
TO UPDATE SOME OF THE WORDING.

HEDGES

KSFX WSR-88D...OPERATIONAL...VCP 21.

BYI 27/38/18/28 7950

.PIH...HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS AND SNOW ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR
SOUTHEAST IDAHO.  PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER STORM BULLETIN
FOR DETAILS.

PIH SB 023/032 013/023 013 11797

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Big and Little Wood River Region

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Big and Little Wood River Region forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Caribou Highlands

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Caribou Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Lost River / Pahsimeroi

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Lost River / Pahsimeroi forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Sawtooth Mountains

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, South Central Highlands

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: South Central Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Upper Snake Highlands

When: December 16, 11:00 PM MST to December 17, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Snake Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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

More

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: 5273402, 5273403, 5273404, 5273405, 5273406, 5273407.