Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 20 to 21, 2014

Name: Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 20 to 21, 2014
Start: 2014-12-20T17:00
End: 2014-12-21T17:00
Location: Idaho

December 20 to 21, 2014 · NWS PIH · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Heavy snowfall of over a foot above 7 thousand feet was common in the mountains of central and southeast Idaho on the weekend of December 20th-21st.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.

Heavy snowfall of over a foot above 7 thousand feet was common in the mountains of central and southeast Idaho on the weekend of December 20th-21st.

What forecasters said that day

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 20, 2:29 PM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 2:29 PM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sawtooth Mountains

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Ten inches of snow fell at the Mill Creek Summit SNOTEL site. 6 inches fell at Smiley Mountain.

Heavy Snow, Upper Snake Highlands

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Snake Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Twenty inches of snow fell at the Black Bear SNOTEL site. Additional reports were 11 inches at Phillips bench and 18 inches at White Elephant.

Heavy Snow, South Central Highlands

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: South Central Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

The following SNOTEL snow amounts were recorded: Bostetter Ranger Station 14 inches, Howell Canyon 19 inches, Magic Mountain 11 inches, Oxford Springs 15 inches.

Heavy Snow, Caribou Highlands

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Caribou Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Pine Creek Pass received 10 inches of snow and Sedgwick Peak received 12 inches.

Heavy Snow, Wasatch Mountains/Iadho Portion

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Wasatch Mountains/Iadho Portion forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Emigrant Summit received 17 inches of snow and Slug Creek Divide received 14 inches.

Heavy Snow, Big and Little Wood River Region

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Big and Little Wood River Region forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

High elevation SNOTEL snow amounts were: 17 inches at Dollarhide Summit, 18 inches at Galena, 17 inches at Galena Summit, 10 inches at Hyndman, 13 inches at Lost Wood Divide, 10 inches at Swede Peak, and 28 inches at Vienna Mine. A trained spotter reported 9 inches at Hailey.

Heavy Snow, Lost River / Pahsimeroi

When: December 20, 5:00 PM MST to December 21, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Lost River / Pahsimeroi forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

The following high elevation SNOTEL snow amounts were received: 8 inches at Hilts Creek, 14 inches at Meadow Lake, and 10 inches at Moonshine.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, December 2014

Sources

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: 552187, 552188, 552189, 552190, 552191, 552193, 552194.