Heavy snow fell in the mountains of north central Idaho. Snowfall ranged from 4 to 5 inches at the lower elevations to 8 inches at Shanghai Summit and Savage Pass.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
Heavy snow fell in the mountains of north central Idaho. Snowfall ranged from 4 to 5 inches at the lower elevations to 8 inches at Shanghai Summit and Savage Pass.
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 27, 10:25 AM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
1025 AM MST WED FEB 27 2002
CORRECTION FOR WINTER STORM WATCH
.SHORT TERM...WILL BE UPDATING ZONES THIS MORNING TO REFLECT
THE PARTIAL CLEARING. TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO REMAIN STEADY IN THE
MID TO UPPER TEENS. ISOLATED SNOW FLURRIES HAVE ENDED ACROSS MOST
OF THE CWA AS SKIES BEGIN TO CLEAR. THIS WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS THE
NEXT SHORT WAVE IS NOW MAKING ITS PRESCENCE OVER SRN BC AND NE
WASHINGTON. CLOUDS WILL QUICKLY RE-ENTER NW MT AND NRN ID BY THE END
OF THE AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS DEVELOPING IN THE
MOUNTAINS OF MT ZONES 1 AND 2.
.MSO...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF IDZ005>10 AND MTZ002-
004-006-007-043 TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EJE /028 020/030 013/030 3036212
EEEE 015/036 024/038 025/040 026/041 026/ 30334333333
FCA EJE /026 018/028 010/028 3017532
EEEE 012/035 024/037 025/041 026/042 026/ 30334333333
POL EJE /029 022/030 020/030 3017632
EEEE 015/038 024/038 025/042 026/043 026/ 30334333333
MSO EJE /028 019/030 015/028 3017652
EEEE 012/037 025/039 026/043 027/044 027/ 30233222222
HMM EJE /027 017/031 016/031 3017642
EEEE 012/039 026/040 027/044 028/045 028/ 30233121121
BTM EEE /022 014/021 002/021 3016753
EEBB 000/030 015/037 020/040 021/041 021/ 30122111111
ORO BEE /036 028/039 028/039 30006622
EEBB 025/048 036/050 035/053 036/054 036/ 30233221222
GRV BEE /032 024/033 023/033 3007622
EEBB 017/042 026/048 027/050 029/051 029/ 30233221222
SMN BEE /030 017/030 013/027 3016542
EEBB 013/032 021/039 023/038 024/041 024/ 30122111111The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2002
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: 5282318, 5282319.