Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 16 inches at Bear Canyon, 16 inches at Smiley Mountain, 12 inches at Mill Creek Summit, 12 inches at Crab Creek, 21 inches at White Elephant, 13 inches at Dollarhide, 11 inches at Galena, 13 inches at Galena Summit, 18 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 26 inches at Vienna…
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.
Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 16 inches at Bear Canyon, 16 inches at Smiley Mountain, 12 inches at Mill Creek Summit, 12 inches at Crab Creek, 21 inches at White Elephant, 13 inches at Dollarhide, 11 inches at Galena, 13 inches at Galena Summit, 18 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 26 inches at Vienna Mine, 10 inches at Hilts Creek, and 16 inches at Medow Lake.
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 Mar 15, 2:14 AM MST, 9 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 314 AM MDT TUE MAR 15 2011 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. STRONG PACIFIC UPPER LEVEL WAVE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT APPROACHING SOUTHEAST IDAHO WITH FRONT MOVING THROUGH REGION ON WEDNESDAY. HAVE SNOW ADVISORIES OUT FOR CENTRAL MOUNTAINS FROM NOON TODAY TO NOON WEDNESDAY AND IN THE IDAHO WASATCH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SNOW LEVELS VERY TOUGH TO GAGE AND HAVE ADVISORY OUT ABOVE 6500 FEET IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND 6000 FEET IN THE WASATCH ALTHOUGH SNOW LEVELS COULD START OUT HIGHER THEY WILL DROP TO BELOW THE ADVISORY LEVELS ON WEDNESDAY. EXPECT ALL RAIN IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN THROUGH TONIGHT ALTHOUGH SNOW LEVELS SHOULD DROP TO VALLEY FLOORS VERY LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. BUT PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE MOVING OUT BEFORE THE CHANGE OVER TO SNOW OCCURS. VERY HIGH PRECIPITATION CHANCES TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER WEAK WAVE MAY BRING SOME SNOW SHOWERS THURSDAY BUT SHOULD BE VERY LIGHT. KEPT LOW POPS IN GRIDS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT AS VERY COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT MAY PROVIDE SOME INSTABILITY. EXPECT SOME BREEZY CONDITIONS AHEAD OF AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING WELL BELOW NORMAL BEHIND THE COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY. GK .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. GFS AND EUROPEAN ARE IN BETTER ALIGNMENT THAN THEY HAVE BEEN...STILL NOT IDEAL THOUGH. BOTH MODELS HAVE A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFF OF THE COAST OF WASHINGTON ON FRIDAY. A FEW SHOWERS FROM THIS LOW WILL BE DRIFTING THROUGH THE REGION ON FRIDAY. BOTH MODELS SHOW PRECIPITATION CHANCES INCREASING DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY AS A COLD FRONT ADVANCES UPON THE REGION. THE FRONT SHOULD CLEAR THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT WITH SOME RESIDUAL SHOWERS POSSIBLE. MODELS DIVERGE QUICKLY SUNDAY AND ONWARDS. PATTERN BECOMES MORE ZONAL WITH NUMEROUS MINOR SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED WITHIN THE FLOW. THESE MINORS COULD TRIGGER SHOWERS JUST ABOUT ANYTIME SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. AS A RESULT...WILL CONTINUE TO FORECAST PRECIPITATION CHANCES TO COINCIDE WITH CLIMATOLOGY UNTIL THE MODELS GAIN A BETTER HANDLE ON THE SITUATION. VALLE && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO NOON MDT WEDNESDAY ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR THE IDZ031. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT WEDNESDAY NIGHT ABOVE 6000 FEET FOR THE IDZ025. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO NOON MDT WEDNESDAY IDZ018. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 440 AM MDT TUE MAR 15 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-161300- 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- 440 AM MST TUE MAR 15 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RAIN AND SNOW WILL RETURN TO SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO TODAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND IDAHO WASATCH. SEE THE LATEST ADVISORY FOR DETAILS. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE BETWEEN 6 AND 7 THOUSAND FEET TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH ALL RAIN EXPECTED BELOW THOSE LEVELS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF IDAHO. PERIODS OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND. .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.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 16 inches at Bear Canyon, 16 inches at Smiley Mountain, and 12 inches at Mill Creek Summit.
Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 12 inches at Crab Creek and 21 inches at White Elephant.
Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 13 inches at Dollarhide, 11 inches at Galena, 13 inches at Galena Summit, 18 inches at Lost Wood Divide, and 26 inches at Vienna Mine.
Significant amounts of snow fell from noon on the 15th through the evening of the 16th. Some of the more impressive totals were: 10 inches at Hilts Creek, and 16 inches at Medow Lake.
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, March 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: 293948, 293951, 293954, 293957.