Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 16 to 18, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 16 to 18, 2004
Start: 2004-02-16T16:00
End: 2004-02-18T13:00
Location: Idaho

February 16 to 18, 2004 · NWS PIH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An extended period of snow fell over the central mountains beginning the 16th and continuing into the 18th. SNOTEL sites recorded heavy snow.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

An extended period of snow fell over the central mountains beginning the 16th and continuing into the 18th. SNOTEL sites recorded heavy snow. Snow amounts were 9 inches at Ketchum by the morning of the 17th with SNOTEL sites reporting the following by the afternoon of the 18th: 44 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 24 inches at Galena, 25 inches at Dollarhide, 20 inches at Mill Creek, 22 inches at Swede Peak,

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 Feb 16, 3:30 PM MST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 16, 3:30 PM MST, 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
330 PM MST MON FEB 16 2004

.DISCUSSION...
STRONG OCCLUDED LOW VICINITY OF 49N 136W AND SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE
FEEDING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA...OREGON AND WASHINGTON COAST.
DOWN STREAM RIDGE AXIS ROUGHLY THROUGH WESTERN IDAHO WITH MOISTURE
BREAKING FAIRLY SHARP THROUGH RIDGE AXIS. PROGRESSION OF FEATURES
HAS BEEN SLOW AND PROBABLY DEPENDS ON ADVANCE OF STRONG SHORT WAVE
IN SOUTHERN BRANCH NEAR 32N.  LATEST GFS HAS SHORT WAVE CROSSING
CALIFORNIA DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. IN THE MEANTIME...WARM FRONT
ROUGHLY THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON...WINNEMUCCA AND ELKO EVIDENCED
BY NORTHWARD ADVANCE OF WARM AIR.  WARM FRONT MAY STALL ACROSS
SOUTHWEST IDAHO LATER TONIGHT.  GFS ACTUALLY APPEARS TO DEVELOP TWO
OR THREE SURFACE WAVES BETWEEN OREGON AND WEST IDAHO NEXT TWO DAYS.
BOTTOM LINE IS PROGRESSION OF PATTERN MAY BE SLUGGISH AND DIFFICULT
TO TIME. WITH RESPECT TO HEAVY SNOW IN THE UPPER SNAKE
HIGHLANDS...HAVE CANCELED THE WARNING.  HIGH ELEVATION TEMPERATURES
HAVE BEEN WARMING TO NEAR 30F AND WATER TO SNOW RATIO COMING DOWN.
ALSO PRECIPITATION IN THAT ZONE MAY BE STRETCHED ACROSS TWO OR MORE
DAYS AT BEST.  WILL KEEP THE WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS SINCE RADAR AND SATELLITE SHOWS ADVANCE OF PRECIPITATION
INTO THAT AREA SHOULD BEGIN TONIGHT.  UPPER SNAKE VALLEY STILL HAS
GOOD SNOW COVER AND LATEST MESOETA CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN EAST
SURFACE WINDS TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY...ANOTHER SLOW DOWN.  BOTH
NIGHT TIME LOWS AND DAYTIME HIGHS SHOW UPWARD TREND PAST COUPLE OF
DAYS BUT STILL WELL BELOW MOS NUMBERS.  THEREFORE WILL COMPROMISE ON
FORECAST.

EXTENDED MODELS MAINTAIN TWO DISTINCT BRANCHES OF FLOW FOR THE NEXT
WEEK OR SO.  NORTHERN BRANCH THROUGH CANADA AND SOUTHERN BRANCH
THROUGH SOUTHWESTERN STATES.  AFTER CURRENT SHORT WAVE CROSSES
CALIFORNIA ON WEDNESDAY IT IS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER DISTURBANCE ON
FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.  SOUTHEAST IDAHO WILL SEE SOME UNSETTLED
SHOWERS FROM THESE DISTURBANCES WITH A BREAK BETWEEN THE TWO ON
FRIDAY.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNING/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY
SNOW HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST IDAHO.  PLEASE REFER
TO THE LATEST BOIWSWPIH FOR DETAILS.
&&

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Big and Little Wood River Region

When: February 16, 4:00 PM MST to February 18, 1:00 PM MST
Where: Big and Little Wood River Region forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heavy Snow, Sawtooth Mountains

When: February 16, 4:00 PM MST to February 18, 1:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, February 2004

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: 5385117, 5385118.