Heavy snow fell in the Upper Snake River Highlands. 6 to 12 inches were widespread.
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 in the Upper Snake River Highlands. 6 to 12 inches were widespread.
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 Apr 2, 2:37 AM MST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 337 AM MDT THU APR 2 2009 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. UPSTREAM TROUGH MOVING ONSHORE IN WASHINGTON THIS MORNING. NORTHWEST FLOW COULD BRING SOME SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS TODAY. BY THIS AFTERNOON THE TROUGH APPROACHES THE AREA WITH A COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING. PRECIPITATION WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND BECOME WIDESPREAD TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE WARM ENOUGH FOR RAIN IN THE SNAKE PLAIN AND VALLEY FLOORS THIS AFTERNOON AND INSTABILITY IS MARGINAL ENOUGH FOR THE MENTION OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. MODEL SNOWFALL HAS BEGUN TO TREND TOWARDS HIGHER AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS...UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS AND WASATCH. WARNING AMOUNTS ARE MARGINAL SO WILL ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THESE AREA AND WILL WAIT FOR ANOTHER RUN TO ISSUE WARNINGS/ADVISORIES. ELSEWHERE...COLDER AIR ARRIVES TONIGHT AND WILL ALLOW RAIN TO TRANSITION TO SNOW AT VALLEY FLOORS. WINDS WILL PICK UP IN THE SNAKE PLAIN AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS ON FRIDAY AND THEREFORE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MAY BE NECESSARY HOWEVER ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LESS THAN ADVISORY/WARNING AMOUNTS. UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO THE GREAT PLAINS ON FRIDAY NIGHT WITH A DEEP SURFACE LOW FORMING SOUTHEAST OF THE AREA. PRECIPITATION WASHING OVER THE BACK OF THE LOW COULD BE A CONCERN FOR ADDITIONAL SNOW AMOUNTS IN THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS AND PERHAPS EVEN A CONVERGENCE BAND FORMING IN THE SNAKE PLAIN. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION. PRECIPITATION CHANCE TAPER OFF TO CHANCES IN THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS BY SATURDAY NIGHT. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. EXTENDED FORECAST BEGINS WITH A RIDGE THAT SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. THIS SHOULD KEEP CONDITIONS DRY DURING THIS TIME WITH WARMING TEMPERATURES. INTRODUCE PRECIPITATION CHANCES MONDAY NIGHT AND GRADUALLY RAMP CHANCES UP THROUGH WEDNESDAY WHEN A WEAK UPPER LOW IS EXPECTED TO PASS NEARBY FROM THE WEST. PATTERN STILL LOOKS MOIST INTO THURSDAY WITH NO CLEAR CUT DRYING BEHIND THE SYSTEM. KEPT PRECIPITATION CHANCES NEAR CLIMO FOR THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...EXPECT A STORM SYSTEM TO ARRIVE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY ALONG WITH A ROUND OF PRECIPITATION WHICH COULD BRING CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES TO MVFR...PERHAPS IFR FOR A TIME. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH SHOWERS CAN STILL BE EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WATCH FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR IDZ019-023-025. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 452 AM MDT THU APR 2 2009 IDZ017>025-031-032-031100- 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- 452 AM MDT THU APR 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY AS A PACIFIC SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE NORTHWEST. IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN...RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WHILE SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ABOVE 6000 FEET. BY THIS EVENING PRECIPITATION WILL BE WIDESPREAD. COLDER AIR ARRIVES TONIGHT AND IS EXPECTE TO DROP SNOW LEVELS TO VALLEY FLOORS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE MINOR WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS...WASATCH AND UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS WHERE A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SNOW WILL TAPER OFF ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AS THE PACIFIC SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE GREAT PLAINS. MOISTURE WRAPING BEHIND THE SYSTEM MAY BRING ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO THE EASTERN HALF OF THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. GUSTY WINDS IN THE SNAKE PLAIN AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS MAY CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ON FRIDAY. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELLING IN THESE AREAS. .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.
A weather spotter reported 24 hour snowfall of 12 inches 5 miles east southeast of Warm River. 6 to 8 inches of snow were reported by spotters in Ashton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, April 2009
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: 167952.