Heavy Snow, Central Panhandle Mountains
- When
- February 26, 1:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST
- Where
- Central Panhandle Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 47.265, -116.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 26, 2009
An area of heavy snow set up over North Idaho as a cold and unstable air mass moved over the area. The mountains of the Central Panhandle were hardest hit where ski resorts picked up around two feet of snow.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 2
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 area of heavy snow set up over North Idaho as a cold and unstable air mass moved over the area. The mountains of the Central Panhandle were hardest hit where ski resorts picked up around two feet of snow. In the North Idaho Panhandle, snow amounts were less with nine inches of accumulation at Schweitzer Ski resort and Bear Mountain. Valley accumulations included four inches in Athol and Clark Fork.
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 Feb 25, 3:35 PM PST, 9 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 25, 3:35 PM PST, 9 hours 25 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 25, 6:51 AM PST, 18 hours 9 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 651 AM PST WED FEB 25 2009 WAZ042-261500- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 651 AM PST WED FEB 25 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE NORTHERN CASCADES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED ABOVE 2500 FEET. TRAVEL ACROSS THE CASCADE PASSES WILL BE TREACHEROUS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. IDZ001>004-WAZ033-036>038-261500- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS- 651 AM PST WED FEB 25 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE. MAINLY MOUNTAIN ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED WITH ONLY MINOR AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN THE VALLEYS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MODERATE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF WASHINGTON AS WELL AS THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS OF THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PANHANDLE IN IDAHO. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW IN THE IDAHO PANHANDLE IF THIS STORM TAKES A FAVORABLE TRACK SUGGESTED BY SOME FORECAST MODELS. IDZ026-027-WAZ031-032-034-035-041-043-044-261500- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-WENATCHEE AREA- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 651 AM PST WED FEB 25 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Northern Panhandle
- When
- February 26, 1:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
- Where
- Northern Panhandle forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.247, -116.588 (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
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 26, 2009
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 26 to 27, 2009
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, February 26 to 28, 2009
- Wildfire in New Mexico, February 26, 2009
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Illinois, February 26 to 28, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, February 26, 2009
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, February 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, February 26, 2009
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arkansas, February 26, 2009
- Winter Weather in South Dakota, February 26, 2009
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, February 26, 2009
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2009
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: 155489, 155491.