Blizzard in Idaho, December 28 to 30, 2003

Name: Blizzard in Idaho, December 28 to 30, 2003
Start: 2003-12-28T20:00
End: 2003-12-30T12:00
Location: Idaho

December 28 to 30, 2003 · NWS PIH · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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 PIH wrote it up.

A long lasting winter storm brought blizzard conditions to much of southeast Idaho beginning the night of the 28th and peaking on December 29th and drawing to a close on the 30th. The worst conditions occurred on the 29th and many major interstates closed due to the blizzard conditions. Interstate 86 was closed from Pocatello to the interstate 84 interchange. Interstate 84 was closed from Burley to the Utah state line. Interstate 15 shut down south of Pocatello and State highway 37 was closed from Oneida County to American Falls. Some details from the storm including snow totals were 13 inches at Galena Summit, 8 inches at Minidoka with 4 foot drifts, 12 inches at Driggs and 18 inches at Palisades with 4 feet drifts, 16 inches at Holbrook, 8 inches at Malad with 2 foot drifts, 12 inches at Kilgore with 3 foot drifts, 50 to 60 mph wind gusts in Pocatello, 12 to 14 inches at Hailey, 18 to 20 inches at Ketchum, over 300 road slideoffs and 60 crashes reported by the Idaho State Police, 12 inches at Sublett with whiteout conditions on the 29th, blizzard conditions on highway 91 at Swan Lake on the 29th, 9 inches at Swan Valley, 10 inches at Shoshone, 6 inches at McCammon with 2 foot drifts, 6 inches on the east benches of Pocatello, 6 inches at Burley with 3 foot drifts, 24 inches at Ashton, 10 inches at Bone, 12 inches at Springfield, 7 inches at Malta, 12 inches at Stone, 1 to 3 feet in Buist, 2 feet in Spencer, 18 inches at Island Park, 10 inches at Richfield, and 8 inches at Henry. In addition to the interstate closures, several state highways and local roadways were closed during the day on the 29th.

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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 28, 3:00 PM MST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 3:00 PM MST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
300 PM MST SUN DEC 28 2003

.DISCUSSION...
COMPLEX WINTER WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES FOR SOUTHEAST IDAHO.  WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS VIGOROUS LOW PRESSURE DISTURBANCE NEAR 45N 140W
WHICH MODELS ALMOST PHASE WITH NORTHERN BRANCH SHORT WAVE TROUGH
DROPPING SOUTH THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA.  LATEST RUN OF GFS AND ETA
SHOW MORE DIGGING ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
WITH A SUBSEQUENT DECREASE IN MOISTURE OVER SOUTHEAST IDAHO NEXT 12
TO 48 HOURS.  STILL HAVE STRONG WARM ADVECTION AND OVER RUNNING
WHICH PEAKS MONDAY AFTERNOON.  WILL LOOK FOR STRONGEST POPS THEN.
UPSLOPE FAVORS THE UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS AND CARIBOU HIGHLANDS
MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING THUS WILL CONTINUE THE
WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THESE AREAS.  MID SHIFT WILL MAKE FINAL CALL
ON WARNING SITUATION.  MAIN PROBLEM IS NOT SO MUCH WILL WE SEE MORE
SNOW BUT HOW MUCH.  SNOW TO WATER EQUIVALENT RATIO UNDER WARM
ADVECTION DECREASING FROM 30 OR 40 TO 1 DOWN TO 10 OR 20 TO 1 BY
MONDAY FOR BOTH THE VALLEYS AND THE MOUNTAINS.  AT THE MOMENT LOOKS
LIKE THE UPPER AND LOWER SNAKE PLAIN COULD SEE ANOTHER 3 TO 6 INCHES
OF SNOW...ENOUGH FOR AN ADVISORY.  MESOETA PREDICTS SOUTH WINDS FROM
LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MID DAY TUESDAY...THAT COULD CAUSE SOME
PRECIPITATION SHADOWING IN THE POCATELLO AREA AND LESS SNOW AMOUNTS.
SHADOW EFFECT WOULD DROP OFF SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FORT HALL AND
BLACKFOOT. ALSO HAVE WINTER STORM WARNING CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR
ZONES 18 AND 31 WHICH WERE PROBABLY ISSUED A BIT TOO EARLY.  HEAVIER
SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD COME LATER TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING WITH
FLOW SHIFTING FROM NORTHWEST TO WEST.

FOR THE 4 TO 7 DAY PERIOD...WED NGT THROUGH SUN NGT...TIMING ON LAST
NIGHTS GFSX RUN DID NOT CHANGE WITH POWERFUL AND WET WARM FRONTAL
STORM ARRIVING THU NGT...THEN COLD FRONT PUSHING THROUGH SAT.  ALL
PRODUCT SUITES INDICATE U/L ENERGY REMAINING OVER STATE FOR QUITE A
BIT OF THIS TIME PERIOD.  THE MAIN CHANGE IN THE GFSX HAS BEEN
TOWARDS MORE MOISTURE AND PRECIPITATION...SO HAVE INCREASED POPS AND
CLOUD COVER...ESPECIALLY SINCE GFSX HAS BEEN CONSISTENT ON THIS
STORM FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS.  ALSO...THE SEVERE COLD EXPECTED IN
PREVIOUS RUNS HAS DISAPPEARED WITH THE STRONGER CLOUD COVER...SO
WARMED UP TEMPERATURES SOMEWHAT.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNING/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING ZONE 18/31
TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. WINTER STORM WATCH ZONES 19/22/23 MONDAY
THROUGH TUESDAY.  SEE BOIWSWPIH FOR DETAILS.
&&

SURVICK/MESSICK

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 28, 5:00 AM MST, 15 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO IDAHO
500 AM MST SUN DEC 28 2003

IDZ017>023-031-032-291300-
EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS-
UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-
SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS-
BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI-
500 AM MST SUN DEC 28 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO

.DAY ONE...
A WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE IDAHO
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WHERE 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE VALLEYS CAN BE
EXPECTED AND 9 TO 13 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET.  SNOW
WILL SPREAD INTO THE UPPER SNAKE/CARIBOU/AND SOUTHCENTRAL HIGHLANDS
DURING THE DAY TODAY WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 3 INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE WHILE LIGHTER SNOW AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED IN THE SNAKE RIVER
PLAIN TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
WINTER STORM WATCHES CONTINUE FOR THE UPPER SNAKE/CARIBOU/AND
SOUTHCENTRAL HIGHLANDS MONDAY INTO TUESDAY AS THE POTENTIAL FOR
ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY SNOW CONTINUES.  A STRONG SURGE OF PACIFIC
MOISTURE WILL COME ASHORE TONIGHT AND BRING MORE SNOW TO THE ENTIRE
AREA MONDAY AND TUESDAY.  EXPECT SOME AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING
SNOW AS THIS STORM APPROACHES AND MOVES THROUGH.  THERE IS ALSO THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW TO ACCUMULATE IN THE SNAKE
PLAIN AS WELL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WE ASK ALL TRAINED SPOTTERS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS.  REPORTS SHOULD BE CALLED INTO THE LOCAL NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER
HOTLINE...OR OTHER STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 28, 7:54 PM MST, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
754 PM MST SUN DEC 28 2003

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0744 PM     HEAVY SNOW       6 W CLAYTON             44.26N 114.40W
12/28/2003  4.00 INCH        CUSTER             ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW SINCE MIDNIGHT

0744 PM     HEAVY SNOW       4 W CLAYTON             44.26N 114.48W
12/28/2003  6.50 INCH        CUSTER             ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            6.5 INCHES OF NEW SNOW SINCE MIDNIGHT

0744 PM     HEAVY SNOW       CHUBBUCK                42.92N 112.46W
12/28/2003  4.00 INCH        BANNOCK            ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            3 TO 4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW SINCE MIDNIGHT

&&

GEW

Event by event

8 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Big and Little Wood River Region

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Big and Little Wood River Region forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Caribou Highlands

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Caribou Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Eastern Magic Valley

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Eastern Magic Valley forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Lower Snake River Plain

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Lower Snake River Plain forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Sawtooth Mountains

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, South Central Highlands

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: South Central Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Upper Snake Highlands

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Snake Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Upper Snake River Plain

When: December 28, 8:00 PM MST to December 30, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Snake River Plain forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, December 2003

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: 5328165, 5328600, 5328601, 5328602, 5328603, 5328604, 5328605, 5328606.