A damaging cold front moved through Southeast Oregon into Southwest Idaho knocking down trees and power lines around the area.
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 BOI wrote it up.
A damaging cold front moved through Southeast Oregon into Southwest Idaho knocking down trees and power lines around the area.
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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 20, 9:17 AM PST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 1017 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008 .DISCUSSION...AREAS OF DENSE FOG ARE PRESENT AGAIN THIS MORNING IN PORTIONS OF THE LOWER TREASURE VALLEY...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE SNAKE AND PAYETTE RIVERS. THE FOG WILL DISSIPATE BEFORE NOON AS SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS INCREASE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THE SOUTHEAST WINDS...DOWN SLOPING THROUGH THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN WILL HELP BOOST THIS AFTERNOONS TEMPERATURES TO ABOUT 15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHERN IDAHO. COMPOSITE RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS AN AREA OF RAIN ALONG THE COLD FRONT EXTENDING IN A NORTH SOUTH LINE THROUGH CENTRAL OREGON. THIS AREA OF RAIN WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN OREGON THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE IDAHO ZONES THIS EVENING...FAVORING THE BOISE AND WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW ABOVE 5000 FEET LATER THURSDAY NIGHT WITH AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW ACCUMULATION LIKELY ABOVE 6000 FEET. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA IS LIKELY TO REMAIN DRY WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. && .AVIATION...FOG PRODUCING VIR-VLIFR CONDITIONS THIS MORNING OVER THE LOWER TREASURE VALLEY WEST OF KEUL AND NORTHERN MALHEUR COUNTY... INCLUDING KONO. ESTIMATED TOPS ON FOG BETWEEN 200-500 FEET AGL. VFR CONDITIONS ELSEWHERE IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. GUSTY EASTERLY WINDS UP TO 30 MPH IN THE MAGIC AND UPPER TREASURE VALLEY EAST OF KMUO WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN DURING THE DAY. A COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT WINDS TO THE WEST AFTER 18Z TODAY IN SOUTHEAST OREGON AND AFTER 00Z IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL ACCOMPANY THE COLD FRONT AND WIND SHIFT WITH LOCAL MVFR AND ISOLATED IFR CONDITIONS OVER BAKER COUNTY...AND THE WEST CENTRAL AND BOISE MTNS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...UPPER RIDGE OVER THE FORECAST AREA IS FORECAST TO BREAK DOWN TODAY AHEAD OF A VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE ARRIVING FROM THE WEST COAST. SOUTHEAST WINDS ALREADY PICKING UP IN THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY. INVERSION INDICES TODAY FALL TO VALUES THAT WILL ALLOW THE INVERSION TO FINALLY BREAK IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO WITH THE APPROACH OF TONIGHTS SYSTEM. THUS...TEMPERATURE FORECAST TODAY WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY THE LEAST. HAVE BLENDED TO THE HIGH SIDE OF NUMERICAL GUIDANCE NUMBERS THINKING THE BREAKUP OF THE LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURE INVERSION WILL ALLOW ENOUGH MIXING TO BRING TEMPS BACK UP. PLENTY OF SUNSHINE EARLY IN THE DAY ALSO EXPECTED TO HELP BOOST TEMPS BUT CLOUDS INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON FROM WEST TO EAST. STRONG SHORT WAVE SWINGS RAPIDLY ACROSS THE AREA LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH SCATTERED TO LIKELY POPS OVER THE NORTHERN TIER ZONES. SYSTEM DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE TAPING HIGH PW OFFSHORE BUT EXPECTING A FAIRLY GOOD OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT AS IT CROSSES THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. SNOW EXPECTED TO FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS BUT IN THE 1 TO 3 INCH RANGE AND WELL BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW WILL BRING BACK COLDER TEMPERATURES TONIGHT AND FRIDAY BUT DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ALONG WITH MUCH IMPROVED AIR QUALITY. LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...FLAT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL GIVE WAY TO A WEAK SHORTWAVE PUSHING THROUGH THE PANHANDLE ON SATURDAY. MOST OF THE MOISTURE WILL REMAIN TO OUR NORTH WITH THE BEST CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF NE OREGON AND THE WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS IN IDAHO. QPF TOTALS WILL BE LIGHT... GENERALLY A COUPLE HUNDREDTHS UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH FOR THE EVENT. A DUSTING OF SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. MODELS STILL IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH A HIGHLY AMPLIFIED UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING INTO THE WEST BY SUNDAY. HAVE CONTINUED TO DRY OUT POPS SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HAVE ALSO TRENDED TEMPERATURES TOWARD AN INVERSION SCENARIO AS THERE WILL BE WARMER AIR ALOFT THAN AT THE SURFACE. SPLIT TROUGH MOVES INTO THE WEST LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. ONE PIECE OF THE ENERGY BECOMES A CLOSED LOW OFF THE SOUTHERN CA COAST WHILE THE OTHER PIECE DROPS THROUGH ID AND MT. RIGHT NOW IT APPEARS THE BEST MOISTURE WILL BE OVER MONTANA SO HAVE ONLY BROUGHT POPS UP TO CLIMO WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. OR...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/BOISE DISCUSSION...JB AVIATION.....DG PREV SHORT TERM...GS PREV LONG TERM....DF/DD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 451 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008 IDZ011>016-028>030-ORZ061>064-211200- WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-LOWER TREASURE VALLEY ID-BOISE MOUNTAINS- UPPER TREASURE VALLEY-SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY- CAMAS PRAIRIE-OWYHEE MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY- HARNEY COUNTY-BAKER COUNTY-MALHEUR COUNTY- LOWER TREASURE VALLEY OR- 451 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008 /351 AM PST THU NOV 20 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO...SOUTHWEST IDAHO...WEST CENTRAL IDAHO...NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The BLM office in Burns reported a wind gust of 67 MPH and Sage Hen RAWS recorded 65 MPH.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, November 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: 139639.