Heavy snow reports were: 11 inches in Stone, 10 inches at Malad Summit, 8 inches at Montpelier, 12 inches at Bern, 10 inches at Preston, 12 inches at Weston, 6 inches at the Pocatello Airport, 14 inches at Emigrant Summit, 16 inches at Franklin Basin, 13 inches at St Charles, and 9 inches at Giveout.
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 reports were: 11 inches in Stone, 10 inches at Malad Summit, 8 inches at Montpelier, 12 inches at Bern, 10 inches at Preston, 12 inches at Weston, 6 inches at the Pocatello Airport, 14 inches at Emigrant Summit, 16 inches at Franklin Basin, 13 inches at St Charles, and 9 inches at Giveout.
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 25, 3:02 AM MST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 302 AM MST FRI FEB 25 2011 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUN NIGHT. LEADING EDGE OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO PUMP MOISTURE RIGHT ALONG THE IDAHO-UTAH BORDER AND WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE. THUS HAVE ISSUED WINTER STORM WARNING FOR PARTS OF THE AREA...ABOVE 7000 FT. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MODERATE SNOW BELOW 7000 FT AND SPILLING INTO THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN WHERE GOOD UPSLOPE SHOULD ENHANCE SNOW FALL AMOUNTS. SNOW FALL CONTINUES THROUGH TONIGHT...BUT SHOULD BE WRAPPING UP SAT MORNING. WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGING LEAVES MOST OF THE MIDDLE PART OF THIS PERIOD DRY...THEN FOR SUN/SUN NIGHT SOME WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH THE LONGWAVE RIDGE MAY PRODUCE SOME VERY LIGHT PRECIPITATION OVER THE FORECAST AREA. WITH THE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW SETTING UP AFTER TODAY...INCOMING AIR WILL BE A LITTLE COLDER...THEN WITH SOME CLEARING AND FRESH SNOW OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL TURN MUCH COLDER. WIND MAY PICK UP SUN AFTERNOON WITH THE WEAK SHORTWAVE EXPECTED THAT DAY. MESSICK .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. EARLY NEXT WEEK...WE WILL REMAIN IN WESTERLY FLOW. THIS WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW TO EASTERN IDAHO...MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. FOR THE REST OF PERIOD...MORE ACTIVE WEATHER IS FORECAST AS THE BIG STORM OFF THE WEST COAST MAKES ROADS INLAND AND ACROSS THE WEST. IT WILL NOT COME ACROSS AS ONE STORM...BUT IN WAVES. TRYING TO TIME ALL OF THIS OUT IS REALLY NOT POSSIBLE THIS FAR OUT DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE PATTERN. WE WILL SEE SNOW IN MOST AREAS...EXCEPT FOR PORTIONS OF THE LOWER SNAKE PLAIN AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS WHERE VALLEY TEMPERATURES WILL WARM ENOUGH TO PRODUCE A MIX OR RAIN AND SNOW. IT WILL BE BREEZY THROUGH THE PERIOD...WHICH MEANS SOME AREAS MAY SEE PROBLEMS DUE TO BLOWING/DRIFTING SNOW ESPECIALLY IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS. KEYES && .AVIATION...SNOW WILL CONTINUE MOST OF TODAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL IMPACT KPIH AND KBYI THE MOST. KIDA AND KSUN WILL SEE SNOW...BUT LIKELY MORE SPORADIC THAN FARTHER SOUTH. DURING PERIODS OF SNOW...MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY WITH ISOLATED POCKETS OF LIFR POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST WITH SOME MVFR MIXED IN DUE TO LINGERING LOWER CEILINGS. ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS...SOME SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED WITH LESS FREQUENT DROPS IN VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS DUE TO THE SHOWERY NATURE OF THINGS. GUSTY WINDS MAY ALSO CREATE SOME PROBLEMS WITH BLOWING/DRIFTING SNOW...BUT THIS WOULD AFFECT NON-TAF AIRPORTS AND BACKCOUNTRY SITES. KEYES && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST SATURDAY IDZ021. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST SATURDAY BELOW 7000 FEET FOR THE IDZ023-025. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST SATURDAY ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR THE IDZ023-025. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST SATURDAY IDZ022-024. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 422 AM MST FRI FEB 25 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-261130- 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- 422 AM MST FRI FEB 25 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN IDAHO. SEE THE LATEST URGENT WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MOUNTAIN SNOW...AND VALLEY RAIN AND SNOW...ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING MID-WEEK...PERHAPS AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND LIKELY BY THURSDAY. .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
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Six inches of snow fell at the Pocatello Regional Airport. Accidents were reported on Interstate 15 south of the city of Pocatello and Idaho State Police reported 12 accidents and 24 slide offs between 4 pm and 10 pm in and near the city of Pocatello. A rollover on southbound interstate 15 between Chubbuck and Fort Hall occurred.
Heavy snowfall amounts were 10 inches at Malad Summit, 11 inches at Stone, 8 inches at Oakley, and 8 inches at Buist.
Twelve inches of snow was reported at Weston with 10 inches reported at Preston by trained spotters.
A foot of snow was reported at Bern with 13 inches at St Charles and 8 inches at Montpelier by trained spotters. SNOTEL sites reporting heavy snow were Emigrant Summit with 14 inches and Franklin Basin with 16 inches.
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: 286942, 286944, 286945, 286946.