Winter Storm, Northern Clearwater Mountains
- When
- February 15, 6:00 AM MST to 6:00 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)
Winter Storm in Idaho, February 15, 2001
12 hour snowfall totals for a winter storm that impacted the Clearwater Mountains were: in Clearwater County, 16 inches at Cool Creek, 14 inches at Elk Butte, 12 inches at Shanghai Summit, and 8 inches at Elk River; and in Idaho County, 8 inches at Savage Pass.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
12 hour snowfall totals for a winter storm that impacted the Clearwater Mountains were: in Clearwater County, 16 inches at Cool Creek, 14 inches at Elk Butte, 12 inches at Shanghai Summit, and 8 inches at Elk River; and in Idaho County, 8 inches at Savage Pass.
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 Feb 15, 2:40 AM MST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 15, 2:40 AM MST, 3 hours 20 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 240 AM MST THU FEB 15 2001 ...HEAVY SNOW WARNING TODAY/TONIGHT IDZ005-006 MTZ004-006-043... ...SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY TODAY MTZ001>003... ...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY/THIS EVENING MTZ005-007 AND IDZ007-008... A VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE TROUGH SAGGING SOUTHWARD TODAY. SNOW HAS ALREADY BEGUN IN PORTIONS OF CWA WITH A SURFACE BOUNDARY ALIGNED ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. A STRONG WESTERLY JET PROVIDING PLENTY OF LIFT WITH LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IN THE VICINITY OF THE SURFACE FRONT. WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL INHIBIT A FULL SCALE ARCTIC SURGE INTO WESTERN MONTANA...BUT SOME COLD AIR WILL SEEP INTO THE FLATHEAD VALLEY LATER THIS MORNING AND MISSOULA VALLEY LATE TODAY. THE LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY GETS HUNG UP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA TONIGHT AS MODELS ADVERTISE A ZONAL FLOW. OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE FOR THE MOUNTAINS ZONES AND WILL NOT CHANGE WSW HIGHLIGHT THAT MUCH. WILL MOVE MTZ043 INTO THE HEAVY SNOW SEGMENT. UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS EXITING ALONG WITH THE JET CORE AND SNOW SHOULD BEGIN TO TAPER OFF. ACROSS NORTHWEST MONTANA...SNOW SHOULD BEGIN TO TAPER OFF LATER TODAY AS DRIER LOW LEVEL AIR FILTERS INTO THE AREA FROM THE EAST SIDE. FRI...MODELS IN AGREEMENT WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW SYSTEM AND PUSHING OFF THE WASHINGTON/BC COAST. THIS WILL RESULT IN SOME RIDGING OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES...BUT POTENTIALLY SOME WARM OVERRUNNING. CONCERN LIES WITH THE AMOUNT OF RESIDUAL MOISTURE THAT MAY EXIST AND THE CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW. EXTENDED...MODELS CONTINUE TO HINT AT SOME MOISTURE/ENERGY ROTATING NORTHEAST INTO THE MEAN RIDGE PATTERN SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. WILL CHANGE THE SUNDAY/MONDAY FORECAST TO MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE. OTHERWISE...NO OTHER CHANGES WILL BE MADE. JOHNSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, Southern Clearwater Mountains
- When
- February 15, 6:00 AM MST to 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- Southern Clearwater Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 45.844, -115.467 (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
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Montana, February 15, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, February 15 to 16, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, February 15, 2001
- Blizzard in Alaska, February 15, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 15 to 16, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 15 to 16, 2001
- Winter Weather in Texas, February 15 to 16, 2001
- Heavy Rain in West Virginia, February 15, 2001
- Dense Fog in Florida, February 15, 2001
- Hail in Texas, February 15, 2001
- Hail in Texas, February 15, 2001
- Hail in Texas, February 15, 2001
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 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: 5230153, 5230154.