On January 17, 8 to 13 inches of new snow fell from a winter storm across the Clearwater Mountains of North Central 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 January 17, 8 to 13 inches of new snow fell from a winter storm across the Clearwater Mountains of North Central 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 Jan 7, 2:02 AM PST, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
302 AM MST SUN JAN 7 2007
.DISCUSSION...ANOTHER MOIST AND WINDY SYSTEM IS KNOCKING ON THE
DOOR THIS MORNING...AND WILL BEGIN IMPACTING MOST OF THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES BY OR SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK. PRECIPITATION HAS NOT MOVED
INTO NORTHERN IDAHO YET...BUT RADAR AND SATELLITE SHOWS WARM AIR
ADVECTION LIFT BEGINNING IN EARNEST OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON. HAVE
DELAYED THE HIGHLIGHTS EXTENDING FROM GLACIER PARK TO THE SOUTHERN
BITTERROOTS BY A COUPLE HOURS THIS MORNING AS IT WILL TAKE THE
SNOW A BIT LONGER TO GET GOING IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE FORECAST
AREA. THE WARM AIR UPGLIDE WILL BE A PRIMARY SNOW PRODUCING
PROCESS OVER NORTHERN IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA THROUGH
MIDDAY...BEFORE OROGRAPHIC LIFT TAKES OVER AS STRONG WESTERLY FLOW
IS PUSHED UP OVER THE TERRAIN. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE
OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL LINGER SNOW INTO THE EVENING. THIS FLOW IS
NOT FAVORABLE FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW IN THE NORTH SOUTH ORIENTED
VALLEYS OF WESTERN MONTANA...AND THEREFORE...THE
BITTERROOT...MISSOULA...MISSION...AND FLATHEAD VALLEYS HAVE BEEN
LEFT OUT OF THE WINTER HIGHLIGHTS.
ALL AREAS WILL SEE PRETTY STRONG WINDS...THOUGH...WITH INCREASING
MID LEVEL FLOW AND AN INTENSIFYING SOUTHERLY SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENT. THIS SETUP IS ESPECIALLY GOOD FOR THE GRANGEVILLE AND
LOWER SALMON RIVER CANYON AREA...AND GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH ARE
EXPECTED THERE AGAIN TODAY.
THE FAIRLY MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE INTO MONDAY...AND
EXPECT THE MOUNTAINS TO CONTINUE RECEIVING LIGHT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS AND BREEZY WINDS.
A BIG CHANGE IS IN STORE FOR MID WEEK AS A STRONG ARCTIC COLD
FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES BEGINNING LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE AS THE MID
AND UPPER LEVELS COOL RAPIDLY. THIS WILL CREATE WIDESPREAD
PRECIPITATION ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION WITH SNOW LEVELS CRASHING
TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY
WILL HAVE PROGRESSED INTO CENTRAL MONTANA...WITH AN EXTREMELY COLD
AIRMASS FILTERING IN BEHIND IT.
PRECIPITATION WILL BE DECREASING FROM THE NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT
INTO THURSDAY AS THE COLDER AND DRIER ARCTIC AIR SETTLES INTO
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO. FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY THE
UPPER LEVEL FLOW INTO THE REGION WILL BE FROM THE NORTH...WHICH
WILL KEEP BRINGING COLDER AND DRIER AIR TO THE AREA. HAVE UNDERCUT
GUIDANCE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURE FORECASTS...AND IF LATER MODEL
RUNS KEEP THIS PATTERN WILL NEED TO LOWER TEMPERATURES EVEN MORE.
&&
.AVIATION...MID TO HIGH CEILINGS ARE MOVING INTO NORTHERN IDAHO
EARLY THIS MORNING. THESE WILL LOWER SIGNIFICANTLY BY DAYBREAK AS
SNOW BEGINS OVER THE AREA. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY PREDOMINANTLY
WESTERN SIDES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AT THE
SURFACE AND WEST WINDS ALOFT WILL DEVELOP THROUGH THE MORNING...SEE
APPROPRIATE TAFS AND TWEBS.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM
MST THIS EVENING FOR POTOMAC/SEELEY LAKE REGION-WEST
GLACIER REGION.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON FOR
KOOTENAI/CABINET REGION-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM MST THIS
AFTERNOON FOR BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS.
ID...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NORTHERN
CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER REGION-
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION.
&&
SHORT TERM...WHITMORE
LONG TERM....VIA/KOLATA
AVIATION...WHITMOREThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Total snowfall ranged from 8 inches at Elk River at 2900 feet to 13 inches at Elk Butte at 5400 feet.
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, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 13243.