Winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds to the mountains of Clearwater County. Heavy snow began in the afternoon of March 11 and lasted 24 hours.
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.
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.
Winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds to the mountains of Clearwater County. Heavy snow began in the afternoon of March 11 and lasted 24 hours. Strong winds over 45 mph occurred during the morning of March 12. Snowfall ranged from 10 inches at Hemlocke Butte, 13 inches at Elk Butte, to 21 inches at Cool Creek.
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 11, 8:50 AM MST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
850 AM MST MON MAR 11 2002
.SHORT TERM...NO UPDATES NEEDED TO ZFP OR SFP THIS MORNING.
APPROACHING WARM FRONT HAS PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO WORK WITH TODAY.
PRECIPITATION ALREADY GOING OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NOW IN
NORTHWEST MONTANA. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES THIS FETCH OF
MOISTURE IS ABUNDANT WITH ITS ORIGINS JUST NORTH OF HAWAII. FREEZING
LEVELS RISING TO ABOVE 5000 FEET STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH HEAVY SNOW
WARNING LOCATIONS RIGHT ON TRACK WITH MAX MODEL QPF. COLD FRONT
SWEEPING THROUGH OVERNIGHT WILL LOWER SNOW LEVELS IN THE NORTHWEST
ZONE BY TUESDAY MORNING...BUT MAY HOLD OFF UNTIL MID MORNING IN THE
CLEARWATER AND BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS. FOR NOW WARNINGS ARE
GOOD BUT WILL EXAMINE NEW MODELS FOR THE CLEARWATER PORTION...MAY
WANT TO EXTEND INTO TUESDAY MORNING. MEAD
.MSO...HEAVY SNOW WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR MTZ001-002-004-
043...
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR MTZ006 AND
IDZ005-006
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB REC /046 022/038 020/035 40+7444
CEEE 019/032 017/030 016/027 015/026 015/ 40333332333
FCA RCC /044 026/040 022/035 4077444
CEEE 018/031 017/029 016/028 015/027 015/ 40333333333
POL RCE /046 029/044 024/038 4076544
CEEE 022/035 020/033 020/032 018/029 018/ 40333333333
MSO RRC /047 032/043 023/037 4076644
CEEE 019/034 016/033 015/032 014/030 014/ 40333333333
HMM RRE /050 035/047 026/040 4076644
CEEE 022/035 020/033 019/032 018/031 018/ 40333333333
BTM RWE /046 026/040 015/036 4074533
CEEE 018/035 016/030 011/026 010/023 010/ 40333333333
ORO RWC /054 040/051 034/046 4076744
EEEE 032/044 030/042 029/041 028/040 028/ 40333333333
GRV RWC /048 037/046 032/042 4075734
EEEE 030/040 028/038 027/036 026/035 026/ 40333333343
SMN RWC /046 031/046 024/037 4076543
EEEE 019/036 017/034 015/032 014/031 014/ 40333333333The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 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, March 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: 5281845.