A strong west to east oriented jet stream moved over north central Idaho during the morning hours of January 30th. Isolated thunderstorms and a strong pressure gradient allowed strong winds aloft to mix to the valley floors, producing damaging winds from Grangeville to Harpster.
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.
A strong west to east oriented jet stream moved over north central Idaho during the morning hours of January 30th. Isolated thunderstorms and a strong pressure gradient allowed strong winds aloft to mix to the valley floors, producing damaging winds from Grangeville to Harpster. Wind gusts up to 60 MPH were reported at the Grangeville Airport. The Idaho Free Press Newspaper reported downed trees onto power lines caused numerous power outages from 630 AM to 1030 AM throughout the area.
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 Jan 30, 2:10 AM MST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
210 AM MST FRI JAN 30 2004
.SHORT TERM...PROBLEM OF THE DAY WILL BE COLD FRONT PASSAGE AND
SUBSEQUENT WIND AND FALLING TEMPERATURES TODAY. CURRENT SNOW LEVELS
RANGE FROM NEAR 6000 FEET IN WEST CENTRAL IDAHO TO 4000-4500 FEET IN
GLACIER PARK THIS HOUR. PRECIPITATION OVER THE FORECAST AREA HAS
DIMINISHED THE LAST FEW HOURS...EXCEPT FOR UPSLOPE LOCATIONS FROM
STRONG WESTERLY WINDS. WILL CANCEL THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
GLACIER REGION AT 4 AM THIS MORNING. COLD FRONT IS JUST NOW ON THE
PACIFIC COAST WITH SEATTLE AND PORTLAND RADARS SHOWING QUITE A BIT OF
PRECIPITATION. THIS TIMING IS MORE IN LINE WITH THE AVIATION MODEL
THIS MORNING SO WILL BE USING ITS QUICKER TIMELINE FOR TODAY.
TEMPERATURES IN THE WARM SECTOR OF THIS SYSTEM ARE QUITE IMPRESSIVE
WITH MOST LOCATIONS IN THE MID 30S TO MID 40S...A FEW 50S STILL THIS
HOUR IN HELLS CANYON FROM STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS KEEPING THINGS MIXED
OVERNIGHT. THE CAMAS PRAIRIE WILL EXPERIENCE STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS
THIS MORNING WITH GUSTS NEARING 60 MPH. THESE WINDS ARE A RESULT OF
THE APPROACHING SYSTEM AND STRONG 700 MB WINDS MIXING DOWN AHEAD OF
THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THE STRONG WINDS THEY HAD EARLIER
THURSDAY EVENING HAVE SINCE DECREASED AS A STABLE LAYER HAS DEVELOPED
OVERNIGHT. MODELS INDICATE THIS LAYER WILL BREAK AROUND 4AM PST WITH
WINDS INCREASING ONCE AGAIN. THE WINDS WILL BECOME WESTERLY AND
DECREASE INTO THE BREEZY CATEGORY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...WHICH IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE CAMAS PRAIRIE BETWEEN 900 AM AND 1100 AM
PST. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO FALL RATHER QUICKLY BEHIND THE COLD
FRONT WITH MOST LEVELS FALLING BACK TO THE VALLEY FLOORS BY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO BE TRICKY TODAY. STILL RELATIVELY
WARM THIS HOUR...AND GIVEN PROXIMITY TO COLD FRONT...MAY SEE HIGHS
EARLY THIS MORNING...THEN FALLING TEMPERATURES IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN
AND SNOW WILL GIVE WAY TO MAINLY SNOW SHOWERS BEHIND THE FRONT THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY. A COLD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
WILL REMAIN OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST WITH A LINGERING SURFACE
BOUNDARY OVER THE NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS AND WESTERN MONTANA.
THIS MAY BE ENOUGH OF A FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR SOME LOCAL
ACCUMULATING SNOWS OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY...BUT AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED
TO REMAIN BELOW ANY ADVISORY LIMITS. A DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW WILL MOVE
INTO THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH NORTHWEST MONTANA
POSSIBLY SEEING SOME SUN. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN COOL FOR THE
WEEKEND.
.LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY): MODELS THROUGH TUESDAY
CONTINUE TO BE FAIRLY CONSISTENT BRINGING A TROF THROUGH CENTRAL
OREGON AND IDAHO. MOST OF THE ENERGY AND BEST DYNAMICS FROM THIS
SYSTEM WILL SLIDE THROUGH THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS THEN SOUTH OF THE
AREA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. WITH HIGHER CONFIDENCE IN THIS SCENARIO
PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL INCREASE IN THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS
MONDAY. TUESDAY...A PREDOMINATELY NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DOMINATE THE
REGION. EXPECT MAINLY MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS FROM THIS FLOW. THERE ARE
CONSIDERABLE MODEL DIFFERENCES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...THUS A LOT OF
UNCERTAINTY. THESE DIFFERENCES HAVE OCCURRED THE PAST FEW DAYS. ONE
MAIN THEME THE MODELS AGREE UPON IS SWINGING AN UPPER LEVEL LOW
THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN OR SOUTHWEST U.S. EVEN THIS SCENARIO HAS ITS
DIFFERENCES IN LOCATION OF THE LOW. THE EUROPEAN MODEL HAS BEEN
CONSISTENT THE PAST 2 DAYS BRINGING IN A STRONGER AND WARMER RIDGE
PATTERN FROM THE WEST AND THE GFS HAS BEEN CONSISTENT KEEPING THIS
RIDGE IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC...LEAVING A PREDOMINATELY DRY NORTHWEST
FLOW...THE KIND OF PATTERN FAVORABLE FOR SCATTERED MOUNTAIN SNOW
SHOWERS. THUS WITH THIS UNCERTAINTY PAST TUESDAY LITTLE CHANGES WILL
BE MADE TO THE GOING FORECAST.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
ID...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR IDZ007-008 FROM 4AM PST THROUGH NOON
TODAY...
&&
SHORT TERM/MEAD
LONG TERM/NESTERHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 600 AM MST (500 AM PST) FRI JAN 30 2004 IDZ007-008-311300- OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER- 500 AM PST FRI JAN 30 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO .DAY ONE... TODAY STRONG GUSTY SOUTH WINDS WILL OCCUR OVER THE CAMAS PRAIRIE NEAR GRANGEVILLE TODAY. THUS A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT...SEE GTFNPWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. IDZ005-006-009-010-MTZ001>007-043-311300- NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS- WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY-EASTERN LEMHI COUNTY-KOOTENAI/CABINET REGION- WEST GLACIER REGION-FLATHEAD/MISSION VALLEYS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION- MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS-BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS- BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION- 600 AM MST (500 AM PST) FRI JAN 30 2004 .DAY ONE... TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2004
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: 5380350.