A Pacific storm system dropped heavy snow onto the Central mountains with 10 to 30 inches recorded at many SNOTEL sites.
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.
A Pacific storm system dropped heavy snow onto the Central mountains with 10 to 30 inches recorded at many SNOTEL sites.
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 13, 2:54 AM MST, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 354 AM MDT TUE MAR 13 2012 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY. MORNING SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES A DEEPENING TROUGH OFF THE PACIFIC COAST STREAMING MOISTURE ACROSS THE INLAND NORTHWEST. RADAR SIGNATURES ARE EVIDENT OVER WESTERN IDAHO...BUT NOTHING REPORTED YET ON SURFACE OBSERVATIONS IN OUR CWA. MODELS INDICATING THE STREAM OF MOISTURE REACHING EASTERN IDAHO LATER THIS MORNING IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. WINDS ARE STRENGTHENING OVER ZONE 21 THIS MORNING WHICH HAVE WARRANTED A WIND ADVISORY. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING OUT OF THE MAIN TROUGH OFFSHORE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT TRIGGERING SNOWFALL TO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...AND RAIN IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. MODEL SNOW TOTALS SUPPORT THE WINTER STORM WARNING CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. THE TROUGH MAY ALSO TRIGGER SOME STRONG WINDS ACROSS THE AREA TODAY...NEAR ADVISORY LEVEL. EXPECT PRECIP TO RAMP UP AGAIN AHEAD OF A SECOND SHORTWAVE PROJECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA FRIDAY MORNING. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE RELATIVELY HIGH IN ADVANCE OF THE SHORTWAVE...BUT WILL FALL LATER ON FRIDAY AND COULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO ANOTHER HEAVY SNOW EVENT. HINSBERGER .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SOME CHANGES IN THE FORECAST TAKING SHAPE BY FRIDAY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A PROGRESSIVELY DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE TROUGH. SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES BEGAN TO SHOW UP IN THE 00Z GFS MODEL RUN...SPECIFICALLY THE MINOR CLOSED CIRCULATION THAT WAS PROJECTED TO BE OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST IS NOW MORE OFF THE OREGON COAST. GFS BRINGS THE COLD AIR TO SOUTHEAST IDAHO BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...ABOUT 18 HOURS QUICKER THAT THE ECMWF AND THAT WOULD RESULT IN DROPPING SNOW LEVELS NEARLY 3000 FEET LOWER THAT AFTERNOON AND DROP SURFACE TEMPERATURES ABOUT 10 DEGREES COLDER. ONE THING SEEMS CONSISTENT IN THE MODELS IS THE DEEPENING TROUGH RESULTS IN HEAVY SNOW POTENTIAL IN THE SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS THURSDAY NIGHT RATHER THAN FRIDAY. BY FRIDAY SNOW POTENTIAL IS ONLY ABOUT ONE THIRD AS MUCH AS PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS. GIVEN THE CONTINUED PREFERENCE OF FOR THE ECMWF SOLUTION...ONLY A PARTIAL ADJUSTMENT TOWARDS THE GFS WAS MADE. SNOW LEVELS FRIDAY AFTERNOON WERE BROUGHT SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET LOWER TO ABOUT 7000 FEET OVER THE SNAKE PLAIN. THE LATEST GFS WOULD PLACE THE WET BULB ZERO CLOSE TO 5200 FEET AND THE SNOW LEVEL AT OR JUST BELOW 5000 FEET. IF THE TREND HOLDS...MUCH STRONGER ADJUSTMENTS IN THE FORECAST WILL BE NEEDED. THAT SAME COLD AIR THE GFS BRINGS IN CONTINUES TO INFLUENCE MODEL OUTPUT WELL INTO THE WEEKEND. RS && .AVIATION...MOS OUTPUT FOR KPIH AND KIDA SERIOUSLY DEFICIENT IN WIND STRENGTH THIS MORNING. SOUTHERLY BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS DOWN SLOPING UP TO 35KTS AT KPIH...SLIGHTLY LOWER AT KIDA. THESE WINDS SHOULD SHIFT SOUTHWEST AND DECREASE SOME ABOUT 16Z...BUT WITH COLD FRONT PASSING TO THE NORTH TODAY WINDS WILL RESUME THIS AFTERNOON. MIDDLE LEVEL CLOUDS HAVE OVERSPREAD KSUN THIS MORNING AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING PRECIPITATION BAND IN EASTERN OREGON. PRESENT TIMING HAS SNOW AND AIRPORT MINIMUMS DEVELOP ABOUT 19Z AND PERSISTING INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING AS THE PRECIPITATION BAND MOVES SLOWLY EAST. FOR KIDA AND KPIH RAIN BEGINS ABOUT 14/04Z WITH SNOW LEVELS LOWERING TO NEAR 5700 FEET BY MORNING. RS && .HYDROLOGY...AN EXTENDED WET PERIOD IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION BEGINNING MID-WEEK AND CONTINUING THROUGH SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT LOW ELEVATION RAINFALL MAY PRODUCE AREAS OF ELEVATED FLOW AND/OR NUISANCE FLOODING WITHIN THE LOWER DRAINAGE BASINS SUCH AS THE PORTNEUF RIVER...ARBON VALLEY...BLACKFOOT RIVER...AND THE LOWER REACHES OF THE HENRYS AND TETON RIVERS. A HYDROLOGIC STATEMENT WAS ISSUED WITH THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE. HUSTON && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 6000 FEET TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING IDZ018-031. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM MDT THIS MORNING IDZ021 &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 412 AM MDT TUE MAR 13 2012 IDZ017>025-031-032-141015- 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- 412 AM MDT TUE MAR 13 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN THIS MORNING AND SHOULD TAPER OFF AROUND NOON. HEAVY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS LATER TODAY ABOVE 6000 FEET WITH 10 TO 15 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION EXPECTED. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NOON WEDNESDAY OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE IN THE UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. THE SNAKE PLAIN MAY RECEIVE ENOUGH RAINFALL TO PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING AS WELL THROUGH TOMORROW AFTERNOON. ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON FRIDAY BRINGING ANOTHER THREAT OF HEAVY SNOWFALL TO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. .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.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell at SNOTEL sites in the Sawtooth Mountains. Total amounts were: 20 inches at Bear Canyon, 11 inches at Mill Creek Summit, and 26 inches at Smiley Mountain.
SNow amounts at SNOTEL sites were: 10 inches at Dollarhide Summit, 11 inches at Galena, 17 inches at Galena Summit, 11 inches at Hyndman, 14 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 9 inches at Swede Peak, and 21 inches at Vienna Mine.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2012
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: 371111, 371112.