Several school closings occurred in southeast Idaho due to the extremely cold conditions on both Feb 1st and 2nd. Widespread wind chill readings of -25 to -40 degrees occurred on the morning of the 1st.
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.
Several school closings occurred in southeast Idaho due to the extremely cold conditions on both Feb 1st and 2nd. Widespread wind chill readings of -25 to -40 degrees occurred on the morning of the 1st.
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 Jan 31, 2:32 PM MST, 9 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 232 PM MST MON JAN 31 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THRUSDAY. COLD ARCTIC AIR FROM A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM PUSHING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS IS SPILLING OVER THE DIVIDE INTO THE UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN THIS AFTN. THIS AIRMASS WIL MAKE ITS WAY SOUTHWEST TO OVERSPREAD THE ENTIRE FCST AREA BY MORNING. AS TEMPS FALL OVERNIGHT...BRISK NE WINDS WILL PUSH WIND CHILL READINGS TO COLDER THAN MINUS 20 OVER ALL BUT THE FAR SW PARTS OF THE FCST AREA. HAVE UPGRADED THE WIND CHILL WATCH TO A WARNING. DROPPED THE MAGIC VALLEY OUT OF THE WARNING DUE TO WIND CHILL READINGS BEING MARGINAL. THE NE WINDS WILL MEET UP WITH THE WEST WINDS FROM THE MAGIC VALLEY...RESULTING IN SOME SNOW SHOWERS AROUND THE RAFT RIVER VALLEY UP THRU THE CRATERS OF THE MOON AREA TONIGHT DUE TO THE CONVERGENCE. COULD SEE AROUND AN INCH OF SNOW BY MORNING IN THESE AREAS. COLD AIR WILL CONTINUE TO FLOW INTO THE REGION THRU TUE NIGHT. TEMPS WILL ONLY REACH THE LOWER TEENS AT BEST ON TUE...WITH WED MORN LOWS FALLING BELOW ZERO OVER ALL BUT THE FAR SW. WINDS SHOULD BE LIGHTER BY TUE NIGHT...BUT WILL STILL HAVE TO MONITOR FOR WIND CHILL CRITERIA DUE TO THE LOWER TEMPS. TEMPS BEGIN TO RECOVER ON WED... WITH DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUING THRU THURSDAY. HAVE REMOVED FOG FROM THE FCST AS THE AIRMASS IS VERY DRY...AND THE COLD TEMPS WILL PREVENT MELTING FROM ADDING MSTR TO THE LOWER LEVELS. HEDGES .LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. THE GFS AND ECMWF MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS PROGGED TO REMAIN JUST OFF THE WEST COAST WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT PREVAILING OVER THE AREA. MODELS BRING SOME ENERGY OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE AND ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO THIS WEEKEND SO KEPT LOW POPS IN THE GRIDS FRIDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES MODERATING AS THE WEEKEND APPROACHES. TAL && AVIATION...CONVERGENCE ZONE OVER THE SNAKE PLAIN AND EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY RESULTING IN A STRATUS DECK FROM AROUND KSUN TO KBYI EAST TO ABOUT HIGHWAY 26 FROM ARCO TO BLACKFOOT. EXPECT STRATUS TO EXPAND A LITTLE FURTHER EAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS ANOTHER SURGE OF COLD AIR PUSHES ACROSS THE AREA WITH POTENTIAL FOR SNOW SHOWERS IN THE KPIH AND KBYI AREAS.EXPECT LOW CLOUDS TO CLEAR OUT GENERALLY 06Z TO 10Z TIMEFRAME TONIGHT. VFR SHOULD PREVAIL AFTER THAT. TAL && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL WARNING FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING IDZ021. WIND CHILL WARNING FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON IDZ018>020-023-025-031-032. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 109 PM MST MON JAN 31 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-011400- 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- 109 PM MST MON JAN 31 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WIND CHILL WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. CHECK THE LATEST URGENT WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY EXTREMELY COLD WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. AFTER WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW MAY RETURN FRIDAY NIGHT. .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. MESSICK
6 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Several school closings occurred on both February 1st and 2nd due to extreme cold including Clark County District 161...Fremont County District 215...and Teton County District 401. Wind chill readings of -25 to -35 degrees were recorded at Island Park, DUbois and Driggs.
School closings on February 2nd including Jefferson District 251...West Jefferson District 253. Rexburg reported wind chill readings of -25 degrees on the 1st.
Soda Springs District 150 closed on February 1st and 2nd due to extreme cold as well as Swan Valley district 92.
The Smiley Creek Airport recorded a -46 degree wind chill on the morning of the 1st and Lone Pine recorded -33 degrees.
Road Creek reported wind chill readings of -30 degrees on February 1st between 7 am and 9 am.
The Bear Lake County Airport recorded wind chill readings of -25 to -30 degrees from 4 am through 9 am on the morning of February 1st.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2011
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: 285742, 285743, 285745, 286939, 286940, 286941.