A powerful storm eminating out of the Gulf of Alaska spread moderate to heavy snow and strong winds across much of the Pacific Northwest on the 10th and 11th of January. S.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 BOI wrote it up.
A powerful storm eminating out of the Gulf of Alaska spread moderate to heavy snow and strong winds across much of the Pacific Northwest on the 10th and 11th of January. Blizzard conditions were reported in parts of the Magic Valley and along U.S. Highway 93 in South Central Idaho to the Nevada state line.
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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 10, 3:24 PM MST, 4 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 324 PM MST THU JAN 10 2013 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...MOISTURE WRAPPING AROUND A MID-LEVEL CIRCULATION HAS KEPT SNOW OVER THE TREASURE VALLEY AND WEST CENTRAL AND BOISE MTNS TODAY. ELSEWHERE ACROSS SE OREGON AND SW IDAHO THE SNOW HAS MOSTLY STOPPED. FOR TONIGHT THE SNOW WILL SHUT DOWN OVER THE TREASURE VALLEY AS THE MID-LEVEL CIRCULATION SHIFTS EAST AND FLOW TURNS MORE NORTHERLY. THIS SHIFT IN THE FLOW WILL FAVOR REDEVELOPMENT OF SNOW OVER THE HIGHLANDS OF IDAHO SOUTH OF THE SNAKE RIVER. THE NORTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY FRIDAY KEEPING LIGHT SNOWFALL OVER THE AREA INTO FRIDAY AFTERNOON. GUSTY WEST-NORTHWEST SURFACE WINDS WILL MAKE FOR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. THE WINDS ARE IN RESPONSE TO A TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WHICH WILL SUPPORT GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHWEST IDAHO THROUGH FRIDAY. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO MAKE FOR WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO ACROSS THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY FRIDAY MORNING. SNOW TAPERS OFF FRIDAY EVENING AND SKIES WILL BEGIN TO CLEAR...SETTING UP FOR A COLD SATURDAY MORNING. WILL NEED TO WATCH SATURDAY MORNING FOR WIND CHILLS AS WELL...EVEN WITH LIGHTER SPEEDS. SATURDAY IS DRY AND COLD WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW FREEZING ACROSS SE OREGON AND SW IDAHO. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...LATEST MODEL RUNS CONTINUE THE TREND OF A COLD NORTHERLY FLOW OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES BELOW NORMAL. THIS NORTHERLY FLOW IS DUE TO A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING NORTHWARD JUST OFF THE WEST COAST. MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE EXTENDED BUT A WEAK WEATHER FEATURE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FLOW SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW. AS THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD EARLY NEXT WEEK...EXPECT A REDEVELOPMENT OF VALLEY INVERSIONS STARTING MAINLY IN THE TUE-THUR TIME PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE WEEK. && .AVIATION...MOUNTAINS OBSCURED. WIDESPREAD MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS IN SNOW OVER SOUTHWEST IDAHO. IMPROVING CONDITIONS AFTER 00Z IN THE KBOI/KEUL AREA. OTHERWISE MOUNTAINS WILL KEEP THESE MVFR-IFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE EVENING AND SOUTHEAST OREGON WILL REMAIN VFR THROUGH FRIDAY. SURFACE WINDS WEST TO NORTHWEST 10-20 KNOTS WITH GUSTS OF 25-30 KNOTS. WINDS ALOFT WILL BE NORTHWEST 20-30KTS UP THROUGH 10K FEET MSL. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST FRIDAY IDZ015-016-030. OR...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/BOISE SHORT TERM...DG LONG TERM....CR/CR AVIATION.....CR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 602 PM MST THU JAN 10 2013 IDZ015-016-030-111300- SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY- SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY- 602 PM MST THU JAN 10 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHWEST IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A BLIZZARD WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST FRIDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A BLIZZARD WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST FRIDAY. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 3 TO 5 INCHES IS EXPECTED. BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW WILL CREATE MAJOR DIFFICULTIES FOR TRAVEL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER THROUGH ESTABLISHED PROCEDURES. IDZ011>014-028-029-033-ORZ061>064-111300- WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-LOWER TREASURE VALLEY ID-BOISE MOUNTAINS- UPPER TREASURE VALLEY-CAMAS PRAIRIE-OWYHEE MOUNTAINS- UPPER WEISER RIVER-HARNEY COUNTY-BAKER COUNTY-MALHEUR COUNTY- LOWER TREASURE VALLEY OR- 602 PM MST THU JAN 10 2013 /502 PM PST THU JAN 10 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IDAHO...WEST CENTRAL IDAHO...NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
339 PM MST THU JAN 10 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0230 PM SNOW SE BOISE 43.61N 116.23W
01/10/2013 M2.8 INCH ADA ID NWS EMPLOYEE
0300 PM SNOW 2 E NAMPA 43.58N 116.52W
01/10/2013 M1.8 INCH CANYON ID TRAINED SPOTTER
0300 PM SNOW CALDWELL 43.66N 116.68W
01/10/2013 E3.0 INCH CANYON ID TRAINED SPOTTER
0325 PM SNOW 9 NW BOISE 43.70N 116.35W
01/10/2013 M2.5 INCH ADA ID NWS EMPLOYEE
0330 PM SNOW SE BOISE 43.61N 116.23W
01/10/2013 M3.5 INCH ADA ID UNKNOWN
&&
TALThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous reports were received of blowing snow reducing visibility to less than one quarter of a mile, drifts up to 5 feet and cars stuck in snow drifts from Twin Falls to the Nevada state line.
Numerous reports were received of blowing snow reducing visibility to less than one quarter of a mile, drifts up to 5 feet and cars stuck in snow drifts from Twin Falls to the Nevada state line.
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, January 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: 424826, 424827.