Heavy Snow, Southern Clearwater Mountains
- When
- May 10, 4:00 PM MST to May 11, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Southern Clearwater Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 45.844, -115.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, May 10 to 11, 2004
Late spring storm brought heavy snows to the higher elevations of north central Idaho. Snowfall ranged from 6 to 14 inches from 5500 to 7000 feet.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 MSO wrote it up.
Late spring storm brought heavy snows to the higher elevations of north central Idaho. Snowfall ranged from 6 to 14 inches from 5500 to 7000 feet.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 10, 1:25 PM MST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 10, 1:25 PM MST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 225 PM MDT MON MAY 10 2004 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...GFS IS THE MODEL OF CHOICE AS IT HAS INITIALIZED BETTER AND OUTPERFORMED THE ETA OVER THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS. A VIGOROUS SPRING STORM IS IN THE WORKS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. DUAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOWS TO WESTERN MONTANA AND CENTRAL IDAHO. THE FIRST LOW TO PASS THROUGH IS CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND IS DEEPENING AS IT APPROACHES. A BAND OF WARM AIR OVERRUNNING PRECIPITATION IS CURRENTLY PUSHING THROUGH WEST CENTRAL MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AHEAD OF THE LOW...CAUSING LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW TO FALL. THE TRACK OF THE LOW LOOKS TO TAKE IT DIRECTLY THROUGH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA. AS THIS OCCURS A SECOND TROUGH WILL DIG IN BEHIND IT BRINGING WITH IT COOLER AIR WHICH WILL MOVE OVER CENTRAL IDAHO...HELPING TO LOWER SNOW LEVELS. ALSO AT THIS TIME MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR WILL BEGIN TO BACK UP AGAINST THE DIVIDE CAUSING GUSTY EASTERLY WINDS...LOWERING SNOW LEVELS AND PROVIDING UPSLOPE SNOWS...MAINLY ALONG THE CREST OF THE DIVIDE. THUS WITH THE WIDESPREAD LOWERING SNOW LEVELS AND AMPLE PRECIPITATION HAVE PUT OUT NUMEROUS WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES. BEST POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP LOOKS TO BE OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AS MOISTURE BEGINS TO WRAP AROUND THE LOW. RAIN AND SNOW LOOK TO BEGIN TO DECREASE TUESDAY EVENING AS WEAK RIDGING BUILDS IN. HOWEVER CONFIDENCE IS NOT PARTICULARLY HIGH WITH THIS SOLUTION SO HAVE JUST DECREASED CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION TO LOW CHANCE CATEGORY LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...WESTERN EDGE OF LINGERING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS TROUGH SHOULD PROVIDE CONTINUED SHOWERS DECREASING DAY TO DAY THROUGH THE PERIOD...AND TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN 5-10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL TO START WITH BUT SLOWLY WARM TO SEASONAL HIGHS BY SATURDAY. MODEL SOLUTIONS DIVERGE SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH PREFERRED SOLUTION BEING SLOWER ECMWF WHICH BUILDS A WEAK RIDGE FOR THIS PERIOD FOR CONTINUED WARMING AND DRYING TREND. HOWEVER...LOW CONFIDENCE IN THIS FORECAST FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY DUE TO CONTINUED MODEL DISCREPANCIES. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW ABOVE 4500 FT MTZ007-004... ...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4500 FT MTZ002... ...HEAVY SNOW WARNING ABOVE 5000 FT MTZ006-043... ID...HEAVY SNOW WARNING ABOVE 4000 FT IDZ005>008... ...HEAVY SNOW WARNING ABOVE 5000 FT IDZ009-010... && SHORT TERM/GILCHRIST LONG TERM/MWJ
Hazardous weather outlook, May 10, 3:30 PM MST, 30 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 430 PM MDT (330 PM PDT) MON MAY 10 2004 MTZ002-111300- WEST GLACIER REGION- 430 PM MDT MON MAY 10 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEST GLACIER REGION TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE WEST GLACIER REGION THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS ALSO POTENTIAL FOR BLOWING SNOW. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS INCLUDING VISIBILITIES AND SNOW AMOUNTS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. IDZ009-010-MTZ006-043-111300- WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY-EASTERN LEMHI COUNTY- BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS-BLACKFOOT REGION- 430 PM MDT MON MAY 10 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED THROUGH CENTRAL IDAHO TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN CENTRAL IDAHO THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS INCLUDING VISIBILITIES AND SNOW ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. IDZ005>008-111300- NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS- OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER- 330 PM PDT MON MAY 10 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED OVER THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS INCLUDING VISIBILITIES AND SNOW ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ004-007-111300- LOWER CLARK FORK REGION-BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION- 430 PM MDT MON MAY 10 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED OVER THE LOWER CLARK FORK AND BUTTE/PINTLAR REGIONS TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE LOWER CLARK FORK AND BUTTE/PINTLAR REGIONS THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS INCLUDING VISIBILITIES AND SNOW ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Eastern Lemhi County
- When
- May 10, 4:00 PM MST to May 11, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Eastern Lemhi County forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 44.943, -113.933 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, May 10, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Pennsylvania, May 10, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 10, 2004
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, May 10, 2004
- High Wind in Idaho, May 10, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 10, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, May 10, 2004
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Utah, May 10, 2004
- Flooding in Iowa, May 10 to 12, 2004
- Lightning Strikes in Tennessee, May 10, 2004
- Hail and Heavy Rain in Kansas, May 10 to 11, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 10, 2004
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, May 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: 5394493, 5394494.