Ten inches of snow fell at Vienna Mine, Swede Peak, Garfield Ranger Station, Galena Summit SNOTEL sites. 12 inches of snow was recorded at Dollarhide.
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.
Ten inches of snow fell at Vienna Mine, Swede Peak, Garfield Ranger Station, Galena Summit SNOTEL sites. 12 inches of snow was recorded at Dollarhide.
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 Feb 17, 1:30 PM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 130 PM MST THU FEB 17 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING A BROAD UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WEST WITH AN EMBEDDED SHORT-WAVE FEATURE APPROACHING THE NRN CALIFORNIA COAST. MODELS SHEAR THIS FEATURE NE TONIGHT WITH ACCOMPANYING MOISTURE LIFTING INTO SE IDAHO BY FRIDAY MORNING. BEST CHANCE FOR SNOWFALL WILL EXTEND ACROSS THE SRN PORTION OF THE CNTRL MOUNTAINS IN SW UPSLOPE FLOW. IN THE MEAN TIME...THE MAIN PAC TROUGH BEGINS TO DROP SOUTH EVENTUALLY REACHING THE CNTRL CALIFORNIA COAST SATURDAY BEFORE KICKING INLAND AND LIFTING NE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY. LEADING EDGE OF ASSOCIATED MOISTURE PLUME WILL REACH SW IDAHO SATURDAY AFTERNOON SPREADING ACROSS SE IDAHO SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOWFALL FOCUSED ACROSS THE CNTRL MTNS AND UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. AT THIS POINT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO FALL WITHIN THE ADVISORY RANGE...AND HEADLINES MAY FOLLOW BY SATURDAY IF THE SYSTEM STICKS TO THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK AND STRENGTH. HUSTON .LONG TERM...SUN NIGHT THROUGH NEXT THU NIGHT. 500MB 5-WAVE INDICATES LONGWAVE TROUGHING CONTINUING THROUGH THE PERIOD. THUS EVERY DAY HAS A THREAT OF PRECIPITATION. 17/00Z ECMWF AND 17/12Z GFS WERE UNUSUALLY CLOSE IN AGREEMENT ON TIMING...SO HAVE KEPT PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION HIGHER THAN GUIDANCE AND GENERALLY HIGHER THAN CLIMATOLOGY. ONLY MON/MON NIGHT SEEMS TO BRING A BREAK IN THE SERIES OF SHORTWAVES. PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL MAINLY BE SNOW...THE FIRST TWO SHORTWAVES WILL HAVE SOME RAIN AT ELEVATIONS BELOW 4500 FT. BUT THESE TWO FEATURES WILL FINALLY BRING IN ENOUGH COLD AIR TO KEEP THE TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING FOR THE LAST INCOMING SHORTWAVE ON WED/WED NIGHT/THU. BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITH EACH SHORTWAVE...WITH THE LAST ONE IN THE PERIOD HAVE THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR STRONG WIND. MESSICK && .AVIATION...MODERATE TO STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF NEXT SHORTWAVE WILL PRODUCE DOWNSLOPE CONDITIONS AT KBYI AND KPIH...THUS BELIEVE PRECIPITATION SHADOW WILL PREVENT MUCH OF THE CIG/VSBY PROBLEM THAT WILL AFFECT KSUN THROUGH 18/18Z FRI. KSUN SHOULD BE CLOSED FOR NEARLY ALL THE OPERATING HOURS ON FRI DUE TO A WINTER STORM. KIDA SHOULD MISS MAJOR IMPACT FROM THIS STORM AS THE STORM SPREADS PRECIPITATION ONLY INTO THE WESTERN HALF OF THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN IN THAT AREA. BREEZY AFTERNOONS CONTINUE...BUT WILL STILL BE FROM TRADITIONAL DIRECTIONS THAT WILL BE NEARLY PARALLEL TO THE RESPECTIVE RUNWAYS. MESSICK && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 400 AM MST THU FEB 17 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-181400- 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- 400 AM MST THU FEB 17 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT EXPECT PERIODS OF SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH TONIGHT. GENERALLY 1 TO 3 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND LESS THAN AN INCH IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO. .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.
Ten inches of snow fell at Vienna Mine, Swede Peak, Garfield Ranger Station, Galena Summit SNOTEL sites. 12 inches of snow was recorded at Dollarhide.
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: 285732.