Heavy snow fell in the Central Mountains with 15 inches at Bear Canyon, 17 inches at Smiley Mountain, 11 inches at Mill Creek Summit, 16 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 12 inches at Vienna Mine, 11 inches at Swede Peak, 10 inches at Hyndman, 14 inches at Meadow Lake, and 10 inches at Moonshine.
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 Central Mountains with 15 inches at Bear Canyon, 17 inches at Smiley Mountain, 11 inches at Mill Creek Summit, 16 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 12 inches at Vienna Mine, 11 inches at Swede Peak, 10 inches at Hyndman, 14 inches at Meadow Lake, and 10 inches at Moonshine.
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 Dec 2, 3:10 AM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 310 AM MST THU DEC 2 2010 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. A BREAK IN THE PRECIPITATION IS OCCURRING THIS MORNING...HOWEVER LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOW THE PACIFIC TROUGH DIGGING SOUTHWARD WHILE WEAK RIDGING OVER THE GREAT BASIN IS BEGINNING TO AMPLIFY. A STRONG PUSH OF MOISTURE IS SEEN OVER OREGON AND WILL BE TRACKING INTO THE FORECAST AREA BEGINNING LATER THIS MORNING. THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR THE PRECIPITATION TODAY WILL BE ACROSS THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. WITH DEEPER SOUTHWEST FLOW...MILDER TEMPERATURES AND RISING SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED. VALLEY TEMPERATURES WILL APPROACH 40 DEGREES WITH SNOW LEVELS CREEPING UP TO AROUND 6500 FEET BY THIS EVENING. AS A RESULT...A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT BELOW THIS LEVEL. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND NORTHEASTERN HIGHLANDS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WILL BEGIN TAPERING OFF EARLY FRIDAY AS COLDER AND DRIER AIR RETURNS BEHIND A COLD FRONT THURSDAY NIGHT. PRECIPITATION SHIFTS TO THE SOUTHEASTERN HIGHLANDS ON FRIDAY THEN TAPERS OFF FRIDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP BACK TO NEAR VALLEY FLOORS ON FRIDAY...HOWEVER WITH THE BULK OF PRECIPITATION EXPECTED AS A MIX...MOST LOCATIONS BELOW 6500 FEET WILL SEE ONLY MINOR SNOW ACCUMULATION. ABOVE 6500 FEET 6 TO 12 INCHES IS EXPECTED IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM FRIDAY EVENING. EXPECT BREEZY WINDS TO ACCOMPANY THE FRONTAL PASSAGE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. A CLOSED LOW CIRCULATION IS EXPECTED TO STALL NEAR THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT LEAVING RIDGING OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. PULSES OF MOISTURE OVERRUNNING THE RIDGE WILL BRING SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS TO THE FORECAST AREA DURING THIS PERIOD. THE BEST POTENTIAL WILL BE ACROSS THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF ARE SIMILAR WITH THE PATTERN THRU THE EXTENDED PERIOD. STARTING ON SUNDAY...BOTH MODELS PLACE A RIDGE OVER THE NRN ROCKIES WITH SW FLOW OVER THE PAC NW AND ID. MSTR AHEAD OF A ERN PAC LOW FLOWS INTO THE RIDGE... RESULTING IN LIMITED PRECIP OVER THE FCST AREA. THE BEST CHANCES WILL BE IN THE MTNS...BUT PRECIP AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT. THE PRECIP THREAT INCREASES OVERNIGHT SUNDAY AS A MINOR WAVE MOVES THRU ID. WITH RIDGING BUILDING BACK IN ON MON...THE PRECIP CHANCES STEADILY DIMINISH THRU TUE. THE RIDGE AXIS MOVES OFF TO THE EAST BY WED... REESTABLISHING THE SW FLOW OVER THE PAC NW. THE FLOW ALLOWS PAC MSTR TO MOVE BACK INTO THE NW US...ALONG WITH MINOR WAVES. AS A RESULT... PRECIP CHANCES INCREASE ON WED AND CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. TEMPS ARE DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN AS THE MODEL GUIDANCE WIDELY DIFFERS. PAST PERFORMANCE ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE INCONSISTENT PERFORMANCE. OVERALL...NO REAL MAJOR TEMP CHANGES EXPECTED. HEDGES && .AVIATION...ABOVE FREEZING TEMPS DURING THE DAY IS ADDING MSTR TO THE LOWER AIRMASS RESULTING IN LOW CIGS/VIS...MAINLY DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. SOME IMPROVEMENT CAN BE EXPECTED BY LATE MORNING THRU THE EVE...BUT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE AFT MIDNIGHT. OCNL SNOW SHOWERS TODAY MAY BRIEFLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES. SNOW WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD TONIGHT. HEDGES && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST FRIDAY ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR THE IDZ019-023-031-032. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST FRIDAY IDZ018. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 356 AM MST THU DEC 2 2010 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- 356 AM MST THU DEC 2 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH MILDER TEMPERATURES BRINGING A RAIN AND SNOW MIX BELOW 6500 FEET. MIXED PRECIPITATION MAY CAUSE HAZARDOUS TRAVELING CONDITIONS WITH PONDING OF WATER POSSIBLE ON ROADWAYS. MELTING SNOWPACK MAY ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO PONDING WATER. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS ABOVE THIS LEVEL WILL PRODUCE 8 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOWFALL THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. TRAVELING THROUGH THESE AREAS...PARTICULARLY TROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL BE HAZARDOUS DURING THIS HEAVY SNOWFALL EVENT. BLOW OR DRIFTING SNOW IS ALSO POSSIBLE. SEE THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING PRODUCT FOR THE LATEST ON EXPECTED SNOWFALL IN EASTERN IDAHO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP NEAR VALLEY FLOORS EARLY FRIDAY BEHIND A COLD FRONT. PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. WINDS WILL BE BREEZY AT TIMES ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WHICH COULD CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING OR DRIFTING SNOW. .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.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Fifteen inches of snow fell at Bear Canyon with 17 inches at Smiley Mountain and 11 inches at Mill Creek Summit.
Sixteen inches of snow fell at Lost Wood Divide with 12 inches at Vienna Mine, 11 inches at Swede Peak, and 10 inches at Hyndman, Garfield Ranger Station, and Dollarhide.
Fourteen inches of snow fell at Meadow Lake SNOTEL with 10 inches at Moonshine.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2010
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: 275334, 275335, 275336.