A large number of schools were shut down in southeast Idaho on December 9th due to wind chill readings in the 25 to 45 below zero range.
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 large number of schools were shut down in southeast Idaho on December 9th due to wind chill readings in the 25 to 45 below zero range.
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 Dec 8, 8:14 PM MST, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 814 PM MST SUN DEC 8 2013 .UPDATE...COLD AIR MASS SETTLING INTO EASTERN IDAHO TONIGHT. SAT IMAGERY AND SFC OBS CONTINUE TO INDICATE LOW CLOUDS MAINLY EASTERN HALF OF FORECAST AREA ALONG WITH LOCALIZED FLURRIES. OTHERWISE...SUB ZERO TEMPS SETTING INTO THE REGION ALREADY THIS EVENING. WIND CHILLS REMAIN A CONCERN BUT WIND SPEEDS WELL BELOW 10 MPH WHICH NEGATES THE HEADLINE. CLEARING WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN TEMPS BOTTOMING OUT OVERNIGHT...AND WILL WATCH TREND FOR POTENTIAL UPDATES TO CURRENT FORECAST MIN. CAUTIOUSLY PLANNING NO UPDATES THIS EVENING. DMH && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1251 PM MST SUN DEC 8 2013/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WV/IR IMAGERY CONTINUES TO SHOW BLOCKING PATTERN OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA KEEPING THE NORTHWESTERN CONUS UNDER A BITTER FREEZE. WEAK SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED IN THE NORTHERLY FLOW MAY DROP INTO THE STATE BRINGING A CHANCE OF SNOW FOCUSED MAINLY OVER THE UPPER SNAKE AND CARIBOU HIGHLANDS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. MAINTAINING SOME SLIGHT POPS OVER THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE SAWTOOTH RANGES DUE TO SOME MID-LEVEL UPSLOPE COMPONENT...THOUGH NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE WAY OF SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. GFS/NAM BRING A STRONG 1041MB SFC HIGH OVER NV/UT/ID INDICATING WE COULD SEE SOME VERY COLD OVERNIGHT LOWS. HAVE NUDGED LOWS TONIGHT A BIT BELOW OUR LOWEST GUIDANCE...MAINLY DUE TO THE FRESH SNOW AND DIMINISHING WINDS TONIGHT. EXPECT TO SEE THE BLOCKING RIDGE BREAK DOWN AND SHIFT EASTWARD ON WEDNESDAY AND START A WARMING TREND...BUT THE COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL BE HARD TO ERODE AND WE MAY SEE A STRENGTHENING INVERSION INSTEAD UNDER WHICH HAZE AND FREEZING FOG MAY DEVELOP. HINSBERGER LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. PATTERN CHANGING TO MORE ZONAL FLOW WHICH WILL AID IN GRADUAL WARMING TEMPERATURES OVER THE EXTENDED PERIOD. A SHORT-LIVED RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL SHIFT BY ON THURSDAY DURING THIS TRANSITION TIME FOLLOWED BY A QUICK MOVING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM ON FRIDAY. IMPACTS WILL BE A QUICK SHOT OF SNOW ACROSS THE REGION ON FRIDAY. THEN A MORE AGGRESSIVE PIECE OF STORM ENERGY IS POISED TO COME IN LATER SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. THIS LOOKS TO BE A POTENTIAL MORE IMPRESSIVE SHOT OF MOISTURE WITH TRAVEL IMPACTS. KEY WITH THIS TRANSITION IS THE SUPER COLD AIR WILL REPLACED WITH MORE TYPICAL TEMPERATURES FOR DECEMBER AND GOOD SHOTS OF MOISTURE. PRESTON AVIATION...IFR CONDITIONS LINGER IN A BAND FROM SUN VALLEY EAST TO IDAHO FALLS AND EXPECT THESE CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE INTO TOMORROW MORNING. ELSEWHERE VFR PREVAILS. A QUICK MOVING PIECE OF STORM ENERGY WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION EARLY THIS EVENING TO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS CAUSING LOWERING CEILING TO MVFR OVER MOST OF THE AREA ALONG WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. BY 18Z TOMORROW EXPECT IMPROVING CONDITIONS TO MVFR TO VFR. PRESTON && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 336 AM MST SUN DEC 8 2013 IDZ017>025-031-032-091045- 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- 336 AM MST SUN DEC 8 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WIDESPREAD WIND CHILL VALUES NEAR OR BELOW -10 ARE LIKELY THIS MORNING. WINDS THIS MORNING WILL ALSO PRODUCE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS WILL REMAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY AND THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
5 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Teton County School District 401 and Fremont County District 215 were closed due to wind chill readings in the 25 to 40 below zero range on the 9th.
Wind chill readings in the 25 to 40 below zero range caused the closures of Jefferson School District 251, Idaho Falls School District 91, and several private schools in the Idaho Falls area.
Wind Chill readings of 25 to 40 below zero caused the closure of the following schools: Aberdeen School District 58, American Falls District 381, Blackfoot District 55, Snake River District 52, and Shoshone-Bannock Jr/Sr High School.
Wind chill readings of 25 to 40 below zero caused the closing of Oneida County School District 351.
Wind chill readings of 25 to 45 below zero caused the following schools to be closed on the 9th: Grace School District 148, North Gem School District 149, and Soda Springs School District 150.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2013
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: 490111, 490112, 490114, 490115, 490125.