Heavy Snow, Northern Clearwater Mountains
- When
- March 31, 3:00 PM MST to 11:59 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)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 31, 2001
5 inches at Hemlock Butte.
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
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.
15 hour heavy snowfall for the northern Clearwater Mountains included: in Clearwater County, 7 inches at Cool Creek, and 10.5 inches at Hemlock Butte. (Storm ended on 04/01/01)
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 Mar 31, 2:13 PM MST, 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 2:13 PM MST, 47 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 213 PM MST SAT MAR 31 2001 SHORT TERM... WARM FRONTAL PRECIP IN THE FORM OF VALLEY RAIN IN NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SNOW IN NORTHWEST MT ADVANCING AS RIDGE LINE MOVES EASTWARD...AND COLD FRONT MAKES ITS WAY ON-SHORE IN WA. SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE TO AROUND 5000 FEET NORTH TO 6000 FEET SOUTH WITH PASSING OF WARM FRONT THIS EVENING WITH WINDS MIXING TO VALLEY FLOORS OVERNIGHT. BULK OF HEAVIER SNOW WILL BE OVER THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS...BUT WITH RISING SNOW LEVELS ...ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WILL BE ABOVE 5000 FEET AND NO ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED. COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST OF THE DIVIDE SUNDAY MORNING...LEAVING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND BREEZY CONDITIONS THROUGH SUNDAY. UPSTREAM TROUGH MOVES INLAND AND DIGS TOWARDS NEVADA SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. A FAIRLY STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVES INTO LEMHI COUNTY AND SOUTHWEST MT BY DAYBREAK MONDAY FOR INCREASING SNOW ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. THE ATMOSPHERE BECOMES UNSTABLE THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST AREA MONDAY FOR SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ELSEWHERE. FELSCH EXTENDED...MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT DIGGING TROF INTO WESTERN U.S. TROF DEEPENS AND FORMS A CUTOFF LOW OVER THE S CA. UPPER FLOW SPLITS. UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WITH UPPER TROF ACROSS CWA WILL EXPECT PRECIPITATION THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WILL ADD A MONDAY NIGHT PERIOD FOR PRECIP SPREADING NORTHWARD ACROSS CWA. SITUATION DRIES OUT LATE WEDNESDAY WITH MAINLY ONLY MOUNTAIN SHOWERS...DRY THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. UPPER LOW OVER SW DRIFTS EAST INTO THE PLAINS. UPPER FLOW OVER CWA TURNS MORE SW ON FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER TROF APPROACHES BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT OF PRECIP FOR SATURDAY. KPB
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Hail in Mississippi, March 31, 2001
- Dense Fog in Kentucky, March 31, 2001
- Dense Fog in Illinois, March 31, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, March 31, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arkansas, March 31, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 31, 2001
- Dense Fog in Indiana, March 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 31, 2001
- Flood in New York, March 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 31, 2001
- Drought in California, March 31, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 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: 5233596.