Heavy snow fell in the Idaho Clearwater Mountains for a 24 hour period. Snow amounts ranged from 6 to 12 inches for the most part with 14 inches at Lolo 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 Idaho Clearwater Mountains for a 24 hour period. Snow amounts ranged from 6 to 12 inches for the most part with 14 inches at Lolo Pass. Snow amounts of one-half foot in the lower elevations were common, with 10 to 20 inches in the higher mountains.
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 7, 2:39 PM MST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
239 PM MST THU FEB 7 2002
CORRECTED ID ZONE GROUPING FOR HEAVY SNOW WARNING
.SHORT TERM...STRONG SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY ENTERING THE SOUTHWEST
OREGON COAST WILL BE THE MAIN FOCUS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THERE IS
A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM NORTHEAST MONTANA THROUGH CENTRAL IDAHO
AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA THAT HAS BEEN THE FOCUS FOR LIGHT RAIN AND
SNOW ALL DAY. A SURFACE LOW CURRENTLY OVER SOUTHWEST OREGON WILL
TRACK EAST THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THINK THIS BOUNDARY WILL BE THE
TRACK THE SURFACE LOW WILL FOLLOW. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR SOME
HEAVY SNOW OVER ALMOST ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MISSOULA FORECAST
AREA TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. THE TRICK WILL BE THE SNOW LEVELS. RIGHT
NOW THEY RANGE FROM 3000-4000 FEET ACROSS THE AREA...WITH POCKETS
OF COLD AIR TRAPPED IN SOME OF THE VALLEYS BRINGING SNOW BELOW 2500
FEET. DECENT COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW WILL BRING WINDS
AND LOWER SNOW LEVELS FROM WEST TO EAST OVERNIGHT INTO FRIDAY
MORNING. IN THE MISSOULA ZONES...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE
REACHED EARLY...THEN SLOWLY FALL THROUGH THE DAY AS GOOD COLD
AIR ADVECTION MOVES IN BEHIND THE FRONT. ON FRIDAY EVENING A SURFACE
AND UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILD BACK INTO THE REGION FOR DRY CONDITIONS
AND A RETURN TO SOME WARMER TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.
.LONG TERM...MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE STRONG SHORTWAVE TO BREAK
DOWN RIDGE MONDAY WITH FRONT USHERING IN COLDER AIR DURING THE DAY.
THERE HAVE BEEN SOME RUN-TO-RUN DIFFERENCES ON TIMING AND WOULD LEAN
TOWARD A SLOWER SOLUTION DUE TO THE AMPLITUDE OF RIDGE. WILL KEEP
CHANCE OF SNOW BUT WILL RAISE HIGH TEMPS AS COLDER AIR LIKELY HOLDS
OFF UNTIL MON NIGHT. SERIES OF WEAKER SYSTEMS TUE THROUGH THU WITH
COLDER AIR WELL ENTRENCHED BY THEN. WILL BASICALLY KEEP LATER PERIOD
AS IS...AND CARRY SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW INTO THU. SULLIVAN
.MSO...HEAVY SNOW WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING ID007-008...
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY IDZ005-006-MTZ004-006...
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY IDZ009-010...
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MTZ002-043...
...WINTER STORM WATCH FRIDAY MTZ007...
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB JBB 030/034 020/036 024/039 27773112
JCCC 025/036 019/030 017/027 017/027 3654223222
FCA SBB 030/034 022/038 022/040 27882000
JCCC 023/035 018/030 017/028 017/028 3654223222
POL JBB 035/038 025/042 025/042 27881000
JCCC 028/037 023/032 019/029 019/029 3645223222
MSO SBB 034/038 024/040 023/041 27+92000
JCEE 026/038 021/032 019/029 019/029 3645223222
HMM OBB 038/040 021/043 020/045 27882000
JCEE 026/040 019/034 015/030 015/030 3644222222
BTM SBB 027/034 011/037 008/040 27783000
CCEE 014/036 013/027 010/025 010/025 3634332222
ORO WBB 035/042 030/045 030/048 27881000
OCCC 032/044 026/038 022/035 022/035 3645433222
GRV JBB 032/036 026/040 026/043 27881000
JCCC 028/039 021/033 017/031 017/031 3645433222
SMN JBB 021/031 009/030 004/031 27882000
CCEE 016/035 011/027 008/025 008/025 3624432222The 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: 5282227, 5282311.