Widespread snow amounts in the mountains of 1 to 3 feet were reported. Extensive road closures occurred with whiteout conditions in strong winds including portions of interstates 15 and 84 on the 28th.
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.
Widespread snow amounts in the mountains of 1 to 3 feet were reported. Extensive road closures occurred with whiteout conditions in strong winds including portions of interstates 15 and 84 on the 28th.
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 Jan 27, 3:56 AM MST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 356 AM MST SUN JAN 27 2008 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. OFFSHORE FEATURES BEGINNING TO MERGE PER WV IMAGERY THIS MORNING. 2 UPPER JETS OF CONCERN WITH NORTHERN STREAM JET STRETCHING ACROSS PANHANDLE AND SOUTHERN STREAM JET NOSING NORTH THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING. BOTH GFS AND NAM SHOW WARM-FRONTAL FEATURE SNOWS RAPIDLY PROGRESSING NORTH ON NOSE OF SOUTHERN JET ACROSS FCST AREA THIS MORNING. LEADING EDGE OF CENTRAL MTNS UNDER FAVORED OROGRAPHIC FLOW TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT BUT LOSE OROGRAPHIC HELP DURING THE DAY MON BEHIND COLD FRONT. THUS MODIFIED TIMING OF WINTER STORM WARNING THERE FOR 6AM TODAY TO NOON MON. BRIEF SHOT OF SNOW WITH WARM FRONT OVER REST OF FCST AREA FOLLOWED BY SHARP INCREASE IN WINDS AND TEMPS. TIMED WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR REST OF FCST AREA WITH INCREASE OF WINDS. MODIFIED WIND GRIDS TOWARD NAM 30FT AGL WINDS WHICH FAVOR NEAR OR ABOVE 40MPH WITH GUSTS APPROACHING 70MPH FOR ID ZONES 17/21/22. SLIGHTLY WEAKER BUT STILL ADVISORY LEVEL FOR 20/23/24/25. IN FACT...THIS WIND EVENT RESEMBLES JAN 4 WIND STORM WITH 70KT 700MB JET AND TIGHT SOUTHERLY SFC GRADIENT. COLD FRONT STILL PROGGED TO ENTER FCST AREA ROUGHLY 06-09Z...AND EXIT AROUND 15Z. EXPECT QUICK CHANGE OVER FROM RAIN OR MIX PRECIP TO SNOW WITH COLD FRONT AND COULD SEE CONVECTIVE ENHANCED SNOW WITH FRONT FOR QUICK ACCUMULATIONS. 850MB WET BULB TEMPS DROP FROM +1C TO -7C WITH FRONT SO COLD ADVECTION QUITE STRONG. TEMPS MONDAY FALLING THROUGH DAY SO NO REAL MAX TEMP. EXPECT PRECIP FOCUS TO MOVE TO EASTERN HIGHLANDS THROUGH THE DAY THUS ENDED WARNING FOR CENTRAL MTNS SLIGHTLY EARLIER. MOST LIKELY SNOW/BLOWING SNOW CRITERIA FOR SNAKE VALLEY DURING THE DAY MONDAY WITH COMBINATION OF SNOW AND WINDS. OVERALL SNOW TOTALS APPEAR FOR EVENT STILL FAVORING 1-2 FEET ABOVE 6500 FEET WITH 6-9 INCHES IN MOUNTAIN ZONES TO VALLEY FLOORS...AND 3-5 INCHES IN SNAKE VALLEY. UPPER TROUGH PASSES THROUGH MON AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH PRECIP TRANSITIONING TO LIGHT CONVECTIVE SHOWERS ALL AREAS. PATTERN DOES NOT APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR CONVERGENCE EVENT GIVEN WESTERLY MID- LEVEL FLOW DIRECTION. NORTHWESTERLY UPPER JET MON NIGHT CONTINUES TO PRODUCE LIGHT SNOWS. COULD SEE ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2-6 INCHES AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS THROUGH THEN GIVEN EXPECTED COLDER TEMPS BUT WILL HOLD OFF ON EXTENDING HEADLINES FOR NOW. FOR TUE...NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF A BREAK AS NEXT UPPER JET NOSES INTO COAST. BOTH GFS AND NAM CONTINUE TO SHOW PRECIP ACROSS FAVORED WESTERLY OROGRAPHIC REGIONS THUS KEPT POPS/QPF HIGH ENOUGH TO MEET COLLABORATION WITH NEIGHBORING OFFICES. DMH .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. EXTENDED PERIOD REMAINS UNSETTLED AS A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN REMAINS IN PLACE. NEXT SYSTEM WORKS INTO THE PAC NW WED AM AND DIVES INTO THE FOUR CORNER REGION WED NIGHT FLOWED BY A BROAD TRANSITORY RIDGE FOR THUR. YET ANOTHER SYSTEM PUSHES ONSHORE EARLY FRI AND SWINGS THROUGH THE NRN ROCKIES WITH BROAD REGION OF CYCLONIC FLOW REMAINING OVER MOST OF THE WESTERN US TROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD. THUS EXPECT UNSETTLED CONDITIONS TO REMAIN AS SHORTWAVE TROFS TRANSIT THE AREA EVERY 24-36 HRS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ON THE COOL SIDE SO PRECIP WILL LIKELY BE IN THE FORM OF LIGHT SNOW AMOUNTS WITH EACH SYSTEM. DSH && .AVIATION...VFR WITH MAINLY MID-HIGH CLOUDS EARLY THIS AM...HOWEVER CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE BY MID-MORNING AS WAVE ASSOCIATED WITH PACIFIC STORM MOVES OVER THE AREA. CIGS WILL LOWER TO MVFR/IFR WITH -RASN IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN AND -SN ABOVE 6500 FT. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL DROP VIS INTO LIFR CAT IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN MTNS THIS AFTN/EVE AS WINDS INCREASE INTO THE 30 TO 40 KT RANGE MOST AREAS. -RASN MIX WILL CHANGE TO SN EARLY MON AM IN THE SNAKE PLAIN WITH COLD FROPA. DSH && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 5 PM MST MONDAY FOR IDZ017-019>025. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 AM THIS MORNING TO 12 PM MST MONDAY FOR IDZ018-031. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 543 AM MST SAT JAN 26 2008 IDZ017>025-031-032-271245- 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- 543 AM MST SAT JAN 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN APPROACHING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING INCREASING CLOUDS TO EASTERN IDAHO TODAY. MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP TODAY AND BECOME MORE NUMEROUS OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY HEAVY SNOW WILL OCCUR OVER THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY SUNDAY NIGHT BRINGING VERY STRONG WINDS AND A DRASTIC TEMPERATURE CHANGE OVERNIGHT. A BURST OF HEAVY SNOW IS ALSO EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE FRONT WITH MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES EXPECTED MONDAY. A WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED AS A RESULT. DETAILS CAN BE FOUND UNDER BOIWSWPIH. .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.
5 winter storm, 3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Over three feet of snow fell at SNOTEL sites with elevations near 8,000 feet. Amounts were 39 inches at Bear Canyon, 22 inches at Stinckney Mill, and 35 inches at Smiley Mountain. Spotters reported 15 inches in Hailey.
The heaviest SNOTEL snow reports were 36 inches at Black Bear, 18 inches at Crab Creek, 14 inches at White Elephant and 10 inches at Island Park. Interstate 15 was closed from Dubois to the Montana state line. US route 20 was closed from Island Park to the Montana state line.
Strong winds and 2 to 5 inches of snow closed US Route 20 from Idaho Falls to Howe Junction.
Three to seven inches of snow combined with strong winds closed interstate 84 from the junction of interstate 86 to the Utah state line on the morning of the 28th. Whiteout conditions were widespread.
Heavy snow fell in the Idaho Wasatch with 12 inches at Franklin Basin and 14 inches at the Giveout SNOTEL.
Widespread snow amounts over 1 foot fell at SNOTEL sites in the Wood River Reigon. Heaviest amounts were 29 inches at Dollarhide, 18 inches at Chocolate Gulch, 22 inches at Galena Summit, 37 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 23 inches at Swede Peak, and 23 inches at Vienna Mine. 15 inches were reported in Hailey by spotters.
Heavy snow fell above 6,000 feet with 12 inches at Sedgewick Peak and 9 inches at Somsen Ranch SNOTELs.
Four feet of snow fell at the Hilts Creek SNOTEL with 23 inches at Meadow Lake and 18 inches at Moonshine.
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, January 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: 78821, 78823, 78826, 78830, 78833, 78834, 78831, 78836.