Heavy snow fell on December 7th and 8th. Nine inches was recorded at Howell Canyon with 11 inches at Magic Mountain.
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 PIH wrote it up.
Heavy snow fell on December 7th and 8th. Nine inches was recorded at Howell Canyon with 11 inches at Magic Mountain.
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 Dec 7, 2:12 PM MST, 2 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 212 PM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NORTHERN STREAM UPPER TROF MOVING INTO THE WA COAST THIS AFTN...AND WILL QUICKLY DROP INTO ID BY MON MORNING. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE CEN MTNS LATER TONIGHT AND SPREAD ACROSS ALL AREAS BY MORNING. PRECIP AMOUNTS WILL BE GREATEST IN THE MTNS...BUT STILL NOT MORE THAN A FEW INCHES OF SNOW AT BEST. THE VALLEY AREAS WILL ONLY SEE MINIMAL AMOUNTS FROM THIS SYSTEM. MOST OF THE PRECIP WILL BE OVER THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS ON MONDAY...AND DIMINISH MONDAY NIGHT. A SURGE OF COLDER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON MONDAY...DROPPING HIGH TEMPS BACK INTO THE 30S IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. WINDS WILL PICK UP LATE TONIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT PASSES. UPPER RIDGING BUILDS BACK UP OVER THE W COAST ON TUE...BUT LOSES AMPLITUDE TUE NIGHT. THIS WILL ALLOW PAC MSTR TO FLOW INTO THE PAC NW. LIGHT SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE CEN MTNS LATE TUE NIGHT AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS TOWARD WED MORNING AND CONTINUE THRU WED NIGHT. AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT...WITH NONE EXPECTED IN THE VALLEYS. HEDGES .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. UPPER RIDGE OVER WESTERN US CONTINUES TO WEAKEN AND BEGINS TO RETROGRADE WEST WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY...REINFORCING SHORTWAVE BEGINS TO DROP SOUTH OUT OF ALASKA. CURRENT MODELERS LIKE THE ECMWF MODEL SOLUTION WHICH SHOWS A VERY GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR SNOW ACROSS THE AREA BY SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY AS LARGE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS ACROSS THE WESTERN US. DO TO LOCATION OF WHERE THIS ENERGY GETS STARTED...MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES ON THE WAY BY THE END OF NEXT WEEKEND WITH MANY AREAS SEEING THE POTENTIAL FOR BELOW ZERO READINGS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS MAJOR CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN FOR GREATER POTENTIAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS. VLP && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS TODAY. CLOUDS INCREASE OVER MUCH OF EASTERN IDAHO BEGINNING THIS EVENING AS A SYSTEM DROPS SOUTH OUT OF CANADA INTO THE REGION. SNOW SHOWERS TO DEVELOP MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH SOME AREAS EXPERIENCING MVFR BETWEEN 10Z AND 16Z TOMORROW MORNING. A FEW ISOLATED LOCATIONS MAY EXPERIENCE IFR FOR A FEW HOURS IN THE MORNING DUE TO LOW CLOUDS AND SNOW. VLP && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 408 AM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 IDZ017>025-031-032-081115- EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS- UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN- SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS- CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION- BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI- 408 AM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE CENTRAL IDAHO MOUNTAINS AND SPREAD SOUTH OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO ON MONDAY WITH THE BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION FALLING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHLANDS. BY LATE MONDAY NIGHT MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF. AS MUCH AS 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH LESSER AMOUNTS UP TO AN INCH IN THE VALLEY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WE ASK TRAINED SPOTTERS AND CITIZENS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. THESE CONDITIONS MAY INCLUDE HAIL...TORNADOES...STRONG WIND...DUST STORMS...SNOWFALL... EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES...FREEZING RAIN OR HEAVY RAIN...DENSE FOG...AND FLOODING OR ICE JAMS. INFORMATION ABOUT THESE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS SHOULD BE CALLED INTO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER HOTLINE...OR 208-233-0834.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell on December 7th and 8th. Nine inches was recorded at Howell Canyon with 11 inches at Magic Mountain.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2008
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: 145035.