On February 15 and 16, a winter storm brought heavy snow amounts of 8 to 9 inches along with gusty west to northwest winds to Clearwater County Idaho.
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.
On February 15 and 16, a winter storm brought heavy snow amounts of 8 to 9 inches along with gusty west to northwest winds to Clearwater County Idaho.
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 Feb 15, 8:37 AM PST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
937 AM MST THU FEB 15 2007
.UPDATE...MADE SOME MINOR CHANGES TO WORDING AND TEMPERATURES FOR
TODAY IN THE FORECAST. ALSO...CANCELLED THE SNOW ADVISORY.
OTHERWISE THE FORECAST LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK. A VERY MOIST
WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BE PUSHING CONSIDERABLE PRECIPITATION IN
THE IDAHO PANHANDLE AND WESTERN MONTANA TODAY AND TONIGHT.
TEMPERATURES ARE STARTING TO WARM AT THE SURFACE WITH SNOW LEVELS
RISING THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND INTO THIS EVENING AS THE SOUTHERLY
FLOW NEAR THE SURFACE INCREASES.
SOUTHERLY WINDS IN THE LOWER VALLEYS OF WESTERN IDAHO COUNTY ARE
INCREASING...AND ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME QUITE STRONG LATER TODAY.
&&
.AVIATION...PRECIPITATION...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL LOWER CEILINGS
AND VISIBILITIES THROUGH TONIGHT. GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED AT HIGH
ELEVATIONS AND WIND PRONE AREAS AS A FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PASS
THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES OVERNIGHT. PLEASE SEE APPROPRIATE
TAFS AND TWEBS.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 645 AM MST THU FEB 15 2007/
UPDATE...QUICK UPDATE TO ADD PATCHY FOG THROUGH NORTHWEST MONTANA
AND CLEARWATER COUNTY IDAHO. FOG IS EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE LATER
THIS MORNING.
PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 340 AM MST THU FEB 15 2007/
DISCUSSION...TODAY AND TONIGHT...THE BEGINNING OF A COMPLEX WEATHER
SYSTEM MADE ITS WAY INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES LAST NIGHT. WHAT
MAKES THIS SYSTEM COMPLEX IS HOW THE SNOW LEVELS WILL CHANGE AS
PRECIPITATION FALLS OVER TODAY AND TONIGHT. WITH COOL OVERNIGHT
TEMPERATURES AND LOW SNOW LEVELS...MOST PRECIPITATION WILL FALL AS
SNOW THIS MORNING. AS SURFACE TEMPERATURES RISE...AND WARM MOIST
AIR CONTINUES TO MOVE IN TO THE REGION FROM THE PACIFIC...SNOW
LEVELS WILL RISE QUICKLY TODAY. THIS WILL CHANGE SNOW TO RAIN IN
MOST VALLEY LOCATIONS...BUT HIGHER ELEVATIONS WILL CONTINUE TO SEE
SNOW...WHICH WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES. A COLD FRONT WILL
APPROACH THE REGION WITH THIS SYSTEM TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH THIS WILL
BRING SNOW LEVELS BACK DOWN OVERNIGHT...THE MAIN EFFECT FROM THIS
FRONT WILL BE STRONG WINDS AHEAD OF IT THIS AFTERNOON. THESE WINDS
ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN IMPACTING THE WIND PRONE AREAS OF WEST CENTRAL
IDAHO THIS AFTERNOON...BUT CONFIDENCE IN A BIG WIND EVENT THERE
HAS WEAKENED SOME AS MODELS ARE NOW PROGGING THE FRONT TO MOVE IN
AT A LESS FAVORABLE TRAJECTORY.
FRIDAY...AS THE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH MOVES OUT OF THE REGION...HIGH PRESSURE
WILL BEGIN TO BUILD OVER THE NORTHWEST. SHOWERY CONDITIONS EXPECTED
THROUGH THE DAY FRIDAY AS COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL HELP
KEEP ATMOSPHERE UNSTABLE.
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT STILL
ANTICIPATED TO BUILD OVER THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE TO
BE THE DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURE INTO SATURDAY. DECIDED TO MAKE QUITE
A FEW CHANGES TO THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST. ALL
GLOBAL MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT REGARDING A MOIST AND PROGRESSIVE
UPPER LEVEL PATTERN WITH AN INITIAL PACIFIC SHORT-WAVE TROUGHS MOVING
THROUGH NORTHERN IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA ON SUNDAY AND SUBSEQUENT
TROUGHS CONTINUING TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA INTO NEXT WEEK.
DECIDED TO REMOVE THE MENTION OF FOG FOR MOST PLACES WITH THE
LATEST GFS AND ECMWF MODELS DEVELOPING A MODERATE SOUTHERLY SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE AREA AND A MOUNTAIN- TOP LEVEL
SOUTHWEST FLOW OF ABOUT 40 KNOTS...EXPECT FOG TO BE PATCHY AT
BEST OVER THE VALLEYS EXTREME NORTHWEST MONTANA SUNDAY MORNING.
BREEZY SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP LATE SATURDAY AND
CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH. THERE IS
PLENTY OF AVAILABLE PACIFIC MOISTURE STREAMING AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM. THIS
MOISTURE AND THE LIFT AHEAD OF THIS SPLITTING TROUGH WILL PROVIDE
AT LEAST A BRIEF PERIOD OF PRECIPITATION SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY
EVENING FOR MOST AREAS. A BRIEF BREAK BETWEEN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEMS
IS EXPECTED ON MONDAY BEFORE ANOTHER TROUGH AND ABUNDANT PACIFIC
MOISTURE COMBINE TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION TUESDAY AND
TUESDAY NIGHT. THE MOIST WEST-SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY AS A LARGE UPPER LOW DEEPENS
ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...HEAVY SNOW WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY ABOVE 5500 FEET FOR
BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS.
HEAVY SNOW WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY ABOVE 4500 FEET FOR
KOOTENAI/CABINET REGION-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION-
POTOMAC/SEELEY LAKE REGION-WEST GLACIER REGION.
ID...WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER REGION-
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION.
HEAVY SNOW WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST FRIDAY ABOVE 5500 FEET FOR
NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
&&
SHORT TERM...MSJ
LONG TERM....STEGEMILLER
AVIATION...KOLATAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Elk Butte and Shanghai Summit Snotel sites received 8 inches new snow. Hemlocke Butte received 9 inches new snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2007
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: 18278.