A Pacific storm system and strong cold front produced strong winds and heavy snow over portions of the Camas Prairie, including Grangeville. Snow amounts totaled between two and seven inches.
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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 MSO wrote it up.
A Pacific storm system and strong cold front produced strong winds and heavy snow over portions of the Camas Prairie, including Grangeville. Snow amounts totaled between two and seven inches. Snow combined with the winds produced local whiteout conditions. The heavy nature of the snow caused power outages and downed a few trees.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 7:54 PM PST, 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
854 PM MST FRI MAR 12 2010
.UPDATE...INCREASED AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION AND SNOW TO SOUTHERN
IDAHO COUNTY AS WELL AS ADDED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE
SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS ABOVE 3000 FEET.
&&
.DISCUSSION...ELONGATED NORTH TO SOUTH COLD FRONT HAS MOVED INTO
NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO WITH WIND SHIFTS TO THE WEST NOTED AT
LEWISTON AND GRANGEVILLE. GUSTY WINDS ARE OCCURRING ALONG THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY WITH GUSTS OVER 60 MPH SEEN OVER MOUNT IDAHO...
SOUTH OF GRANGEVILLE. LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE SHOWING PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS OF .35 TO .50 INCH THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY OVER SOUTHERN
IDAHO COUNTY. HAVE ADJUSTED QPF VALUES TO SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN
PREVIOUS FORECAST...WHICH NOW TRANSLATES TO SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF
2 TO 5 INCHES ABOVE 3000 FEET IN THIS AREA. THEREFORE...HAVE ADDED
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IN THE SOUTHERN CLEARWATER
MOUNTAINS THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
&&
.AVIATION...A STRONG COLD FRONT WAS ORIENTED ROUGHLY ALONG A LINE
FROM KCOE TO KS80 TO KMYL AS OF 13/03Z. AN ABRUPT WIND SHIFT FROM
SOUTH TO WEST HAS BEEN OCCURRING ALONG THIS BOUNDARY WITH SOME
GUSTS OVER 50 KTS REPORTED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. THIS BOUNDARY
IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO SHIFT EASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT. KMSO
AND KGPI CAN EXPECT FRONTAL PASSAGE AROUND 09Z...KSMN AROUND 12Z
AND KBTM BY 14Z. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED WITH WIDESPREAD
PRECIPITATION...CAUSING LOWERED CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES AREA
WIDE. HIGHER TERRAIN AND MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL REMAIN OBSCURED
THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 229 PM MST FRI MAR 12 2010/
..ACCUMULATING SNOW EXPECTED OVER GREER AND WHITEBIRD GRADES AND
LOOKOUT AND LOST TRAIL PASSES TONIGHT...
DISCUSSION...A COLD FRONT IS APPROACHING THE NORTHERN ROCKIES.
THE RESULTANT TIGHTENING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT AHEAD OF THE
FRONT IS PRODUCING STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA
AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IDAHO. THE BITTERROOT AND MISSOULA VALLEYS
ARE ESPECIALLY IMPACTED BY THESE WINDS WHICH WILL PERSIST THROUGH
THE MID EVENING HOURS. THE COLD FRONT WILL ENTER CENTRAL IDAHO
THIS EVENING AND BEGIN TO PRODUCE RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW LEVELS WILL
FALL LATER THIS EVENING AS TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO COOL OVERNIGHT
BEHIND THE FRONT. ACCUMULATING SNOW AND SOME BLOWING SNOW WILL
PRODUCE SOME TRAVEL DIFFICULTY OVER THE WHITEBIRD AND GREER GRADES
TONIGHT. ACCUMULATING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWS ARE ALSO EXPECTED
OVER LOST TRAIL AND LOLO PASSES ALONG THE FRONTAL PASSAGE AFTER
MIDNIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATIONS AT THIS TIME ARE
NOT ANTICIPATED TO BE ENOUGH TO WARRANT WINTER WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS.
THE COLD FRONT WILL MAKE ITS PUSH THROUGH WESTERN MONTANA TOWARDS
DAWN SATURDAY. MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT ON PUSHING THIS FRONT
THROUGH PRETTY QUICK DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE QUICKLY RE-ESTABLISHES ITSELF OVER THE REGION BY SUNDAY
MORNING. EXPECT CLEARING SKIES...DRY CONDITIONS AND TEMPERATURES
RETURNING TO ABOVE NORMAL READINGS SUNDAY.
SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...A RIDGE REBUILDS ACROSS THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST WHICH WILL KEEP WINDS LIGHT WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES AND
WARMING TEMPERATURES. TUESDAY NIGHT ANOTHER PACIFIC TROUGH MOVES
INTO THE NORTHWEST. THE REST OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST WILL REMAIN
UNSETTLED AS THE TROUGH MOVES SLOWLY TO THE EAST.
AVIATION...CLOUDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON
AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION. A TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE STRONG SOUTH WINDS WITH GUSTS
OVER 25 MPH LIKELY FROM TIME TO TIME. FRONTAL PASSAGE IS EXPECTED
BETWEEN 13/0800Z AND 13/1400Z AT ALL TERMINALS. RAIN AND WINDS
ALONG THE FRONT MAY LOWER CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES AT TIMES.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...ID...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST SATURDAY LOWER HELLS
CANYON/SALMON RIVER REGION...OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 10 AM PST SATURDAY ABOVE
3000 FEET FOR THE SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
&&
SHORT TERM...FELSCH
LONG TERM....KOLATA
AVIATION...PALLISTERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow amounts up to seven inches reported on the Camas Prairie. The heavy wet snow caused power outages as well as downed trees. Gusty winds sombined with the snow to produce whiteout conditions.
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, March 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: 218352.