Heavy Snow, Coeur D'Alene Area
- When
- March 28, 3:00 PM PST to March 29, 10:00 AM PST
- Where
- Coeur D'Alene Area forecast zone
- Reported by
- COOP Observer
- Coordinates
- 47.675, -116.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 28 to 29, 2008
An unseasonably cold upper level low pressure system brought heavy snow showers to much of north Idaho. The unstable atmosphere resulted in widely varying snowfall accumulations across relatively short distances.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
- 3
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 OTX wrote it up.
An unseasonably cold upper level low pressure system brought heavy snow showers to much of north Idaho. The unstable atmosphere resulted in widely varying snowfall accumulations across relatively short distances. In the North Idaho Panhandle, Blanchard picked up ten inches of snow while four inches fell three miles west of Naples. In the Central Panhandle, Lookout Pass picked up 11 inches of accumulation while St. Maries picked up eight inches. In the Coeur D'Alene area, accumulations ranged from four inches to a foot.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 28, 2:09 PM PST, 51 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 2:09 PM PST, 51 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 28, 4:53 AM PST, 10 hours 7 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 553 AM PDT FRI MAR 28 2008 IDZ001-002-004-WAZ031-035>038-041>044-291400- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 553 AM PDT FRI MAR 28 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A POTENT EARLY SPRING STORM WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF ACCUMULATING SNOW TO THE INLAND NORTHWEST TODAY...TONIGHT...AND SATURDAY. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN THIS MORNING ALONG THE CASCADES AND SPREAD EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2 IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN WASHINGTON. THE HEAVIEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL OCCUR OVER NORTHERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT...NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER. HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS ARE ALSO EXPECTED IN THE CASCADES...IDAHO PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS...AND THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SNOW WILL LINGER INTO SATURDAY OVER NORTHERN IDAHO AND PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. A QUIETER WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED FROM LATE SUNDAY INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. IDZ003-026-027-WAZ032>034-291400- IDAHO PALOUSE-LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA- 553 AM PDT FRI MAR 28 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Northern Panhandle
- When
- March 28, 6:00 PM PST to March 29, 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northern Panhandle forecast zone
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
- Coordinates
- 48.247, -116.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Central Panhandle Mountains
- When
- March 28, 6:00 PM PST to March 29, 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Panhandle Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 47.265, -116.491 (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
- Flood in Mississippi, March 28 to 31, 2008
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 28, 2008
- Damaging Wind in Oregon, March 28, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 28, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, March 28 to 29, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Washington, March 28 to 29, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Washington, March 28 to 29, 2008
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 28, 2008
- Blizzard in Alaska, March 28 to 29, 2008
- Winter Weather in New York, March 28, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 28, 2008
- Hail in Alabama, March 28, 2008
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2008
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 85680, 85681, 85682.