Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 28 to 29, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 28 to 29, 2004
Start: 2004-02-28T05:00
End: 2004-02-29T08:00
Location: Idaho

February 28 to 29, 2004 · NWS PIH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The final snowstorm of a very snowy month affected the Pocatello area and surrounding mountains beginning on the 28th and continuing until the early morning of the 29th. 5 inches at the NWS office in Pocatello, 14 inches in American Falls, 10 inches in Malad, 6 inches in Henry, 7 inches in Elba, 6 inches in Albion, 9 inches at Sedgewick Peak, 12 inches at Wildhorse Divide, 12 inches at Howell…

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

The final snowstorm of a very snowy month affected the Pocatello area and surrounding mountains beginning on the 28th and continuing until the early morning of the 29th. The storm totaled 7.5 inches at the NWS office in Pocatello, 14 inches in American Falls, 10 inches in Malad, 6 inches in Henry, 7 inches in Elba, 6 inches in Albion, 9 inches at Sedgewick Peak, 12 inches at Wildhorse Divide, 12 inches at Howell Canyon, 12 inches at Woodruff, and 11 inches on the east benches of Pocatello. .

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 28, 3:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 3:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 27, 6:04 AM MST, 22 hours 56 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Caribou Highlands

When: February 28, 5:00 AM MST to February 29, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Caribou Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Lower Snake River Plain

When: February 28, 5:00 AM MST to February 29, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Lower Snake River Plain forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, South Central Highlands

When: February 28, 5:00 AM MST to February 29, 8:00 AM MST
Where: South Central Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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: 5385221, 5385222, 5385223.