Localized heavy snow developed over portions of north central Idaho Christmas evening and into the morning hours the day after. Snowfall totals for the storm ranged from 6 to 8 inches over the Camas Prairie near Grangeville to 28 inches at Snowhaven Ski resort.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Localized heavy snow developed over portions of north central Idaho Christmas evening and into the morning hours the day after. Snowfall totals for the storm ranged from 6 to 8 inches over the Camas Prairie near Grangeville to 28 inches at Snowhaven Ski resort. The Clearwater Mountains received 7 to 9 inches of new snow.
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 Dec 25, 9:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 930 AM MST THU DEC 25 2003 .UPDATE...A FEW MINOR CHANGES TO THE ZONES THIS MORNING...MAINLY TO RAISE A COUPLE OF MAX TEMPERATURES. MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW INTO THE AREA...UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. COOLER AIR ALOFT IS ALSO MOVING INTO THE AREA...WHICH WILL KEEP THE AIR MASS UNSTABLE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. WITH SNOW SHOWERS MOVING ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTHCENTRAL IDAHO. SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD REMAIN LOW...BUT COULD SEE SOME BANDS OF HEAVIER SNOW. DO NOT EXPECT THE TEMPERATURES TO RAISE MUCH TODAY ABOVE CURRENT READINGS... EXCEPT IN THE SOUTHEASTERN ZONES. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...A SECOND SURGE OF COLDER AIR WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR A CONTINUED COOLING TREND. MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SECOND COLD SURGE WILL NOT BE AS DEEP...THUS WILL SHOW A GRADUAL DECREASING TREND IN POPS FOR FRIDAY...FRI NIGHT. SATURDAY...A STRONGER SHORT-WAVE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BETTER UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS AND INCREASED MOISTURE AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. WILL INCREASE POPS TO CHANCE CATEGORY AS THIS SYSTEM APPROACHES LATER IN THE DAY. .LONG TERM...BETTER MODEL AGREEMENT IN THE LAST 24 HOURS TO BOOST FORECAST CONFIDENCE IN THE OUTLOOK PERIOD. COLD UPPER TROUGH WILL DOMINATE WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR OR BELOW NORMAL AND OVERALL A GOOD PATTERN FOR SNOWFALL. BIGGEST ISSUE WILL BE STRENGTH OF A CANADIAN LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MERGING WITH OVERRUNNING MOISTURE FROM A PAC SYSTEM LATE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. GFS/CANADIAN/NOGAPS ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN ECMWF/UKMET WITH A CLOSED UPPER LOW CENTER AND DEEP SURFACE LOW SLIDING THROUGH ID AND SOUTHWEST MT DURING THE EVENT. ADDITIONALLY...TIMING IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE VARIOUS MODELS. FORECAST WILL LEAN TOWARD THE LESS ENERGETIC AND SLOWER ECMWF SOLUTION...BUT OVERALL THEME IS AN INCREASED THREAT OF SNOW ALONG WITH MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...NONE. ID...NONE. && UPDATE/KOLATA PREVIOUS DISCUSSION/MSJ LONG TERM/BOLDT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 500 AM MST (400 AM PST) THU DEC 25 2003 MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-261300- WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO- 500 AM MST (400 AM PST) THU DEC 25 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO .DAY ONE... TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL BRING LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND GENERALLY UP TO 1 INCH IN THE VALLEYS TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. A CANADIAN STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING AN INCREASING CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOW TO THE AREA FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY. THE EXACT TRACK AND STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM IS UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY SNOWFALL EXISTS. CHECK THE LATEST FORECAST FOR UPDATES TO THIS DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2003
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: 5332072, 5332073, 5332071.