A modified arctic air mass situated over the region was overrun by a subtropical moisture fetch resulting in heavy snow over the Northern Idaho Panhandle. All locations received heavy snow on the 12th, then over time, the colder air in the valleys mixed out with heavy snow mainly focused above three-thousand feet on the 13th.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 OTX wrote it up.
A modified arctic air mass situated over the region was overrun by a subtropical moisture fetch resulting in heavy snow over the Northern Idaho Panhandle. All locations received heavy snow on the 12th, then over time, the colder air in the valleys mixed out with heavy snow mainly focused above three-thousand feet on the 13th. Snowfall amounts ranged from four to eight inches in the valleys to over a foot in the mountains. Most school districts closed school on the 13th.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 11, 9:40 PM PST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 403 PM PST TUE JAN 11 2011 IDZ001>004-WAZ033>038-041>044-130015- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE-MOSES LAKE AREA- UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA-NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 403 PM PST TUE JAN 11 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE AND TWO...TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... A MOIST PACIFIC AIR MASS WILL CLASH WITH COLD ARCTIC TEMPERATURES TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...RESULTING IN HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. WIDESPREAD 4 TO 10 INCHES ARE LIKELY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE HIGHWAY 2 CORRIDOR. THE HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY FALL OVER THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON...THE NORTH IDAHO PANHANDLE...AND THE CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS. WARM AIR WILL LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE REGION BEGINNING TOMORROW...WHICH WILL CHANGE ANY PRECIPITATION FALLING OVER TO RAIN FOR THE COLUMBIA BASIN. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR FOR A BRIEF PERIOD WEDNESDAY MORNING AS THE SNOW TO RAIN TRANSITION OCCURS ACROSS THE CENTRAL COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN. .DAYS THREE THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY... A SERIES OF WET PACIFIC SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE INLAND NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE WEEKEND. UNSEASONABLY MILD CONDITIONS...PERIODS OF RAIN...AND WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS...WILL CAUSE AMPLE SNOW TO MELT. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN AREA STREAMS AND RIVERS TO RISE. FLOODING ON ANY SPECIFIC RIVER DOES NOT APPEAR LIKELY. HOWEVER...THERE IS CERTAINLY A POTENTIAL GIVEN THE LONG DURATION OF THE UPCOMING WARM WEATHER EVENT. IN ADDITION...ICE JAMS AND SUBSEQUENT LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL ALSO BE OF CONCERN ALONG RIVERS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. IDZ026-027-WAZ031-032-130015- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- 403 PM PST TUE JAN 11 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY A SERIES OF WET PACIFIC SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE INLAND NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE WEEKEND. UNSEASONABLY MILD CONDITIONS...PERIODS OF RAIN...AND WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS...WILL CAUSE AMPLE SNOW TO MELT. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN AREA STREAMS AND RIVERS TO RISE. FLOODING ON ANY SPECIFIC RIVER DOES NOT APPEAR LIKELY. HOWEVER...THERE IS CERTAINLY A POTENTIAL GIVEN THE LONG DURATION OF THE UPCOMING WARM WEATHER EVENT. IN ADDITION...ICE JAMS AND SUBSEQUENT LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL ALSO BE OF CONCERN ALONG RIVERS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Widespread snowfall amounts of four to eight inches with several reports of seven to fifteen inches northeast of Sandpoint. SNOTELS indicated ten to twenty inches of snow in the mountains.
Widespread snowfall amounts of five to six inches.
Widespread snowfall amounts of four to five inches valleys with an isolated report of seven inches in Mullan. Ski resorts and SNOTEL data in the zone reported eight to fourteen 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, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 275599, 275601, 275608.