A moist and rather strong warm front brought snow to portions of the Camas Prairie and to the Clearwater Mountains. Limited visibilities and slick roads were the main impacts from this system.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 MSO wrote it up.
A moist and rather strong warm front brought snow to portions of the Camas Prairie and to the Clearwater Mountains. Limited visibilities and slick roads were the main impacts from this system.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 14, 2:01 AM PST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
301 AM MST Fri Feb 14 2014
...Complex, active weather pattern to continue through the weekend...
.DISCUSSION...Another wet Pacific weather system will be
delivering precipitation and winds to the Northern Rockies region
today through this evening. Mountain snow and increasing winds
will make travel over the passes difficult and therefore Winter
Weather Advisories have been issued for Lookout, Lolo and Lost
Trail passes. Lower valleys in western Clearwater and Idaho
counties will see rain with this system. Elsewhere across north-
central Idaho and western Montana, valley locations will see snow
changing over to rain as warmer air surges in with this system. A
southerly surface pressure gradient will be increasing and winds
will increase by this afternoon. Strongest winds (outside of
mountain locations) will occur in the Grangeville area where wind
gusts up to 40 mph are possible.
Tonight...As this first system passes to the east, widespread
precipitation will end, winds will be decreasing, and cooler air
will move into the region from the west. However, the pattern is
shaping up to favor the organization of snow showers into bands
across western Montana. Difficult to assess exactly where these
bands will set up or how persistent they could be, but minor snow
accumulations are in the realm of possibility.
Saturday and Saturday Night...A second warm, wet Pacific system will
quickly follow in the footsteps of today's system. This next system
has the potential of producing even greater amounts of precipitation
and stronger winds. Snow levels will be on the rise once again as
a warming southerly flow at the lower levels of the atmosphere
increases. With this in mind, the Grangeville area could see
strong south winds with gusts up to 50 mph later Saturday
afternoon and evening. Warm temperatures, rain on snow, and
melting of existing snow pack will likely result in more ponding and
local field flooding. The cold front associated with this second
system is expected to pass through the region late Saturday night.
This frontal passage will likely help maintain winds overnight as
cooler air moves in from the west.
Sunday through next week the deluge continues with one system
after the next bringing moisture into the northern Rockies. The
main difference will be a cold front Wednesday that cools things
down and lowers snow levels. Through the week the valleys will
see a rain snow mix during the days with snow and potentially
freezing rain at night. The system Wednesday will be another
windy one.
Wednesday night and Thursday an arctic air mass impacts east of
the Continental Divide. It is very likely that some of the cold
air will seep through the passes and impact the Flathead and
Mission valleys, and possibly the Missoula Valley. Even if this
does not happen, the system Wednesday night will bring much cooler
air to the region, potentially causing significant snow
accumulation in the valleys late next week.
&&
.AVIATION...Yet another wet, Pacific weather system will be moving
into north-central Idaho and western Montana today. Conditions
will be deteriorating this morning, with clouds and snow obscuring
the higher terrain. Valley locations will experience lowering ceilings
with visibilities reduced at times in precipitation. In addition,
westerly winds will be increasing this afternoon with some gusts
in excess of 25 knots possible. All airfields will be impacted.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY until 11 PM MST this evening for Lolo
Pass and Lost Trail Pass IN THE Bitterroot/Sapphire
Mountains.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY until 5 PM MST this afternoon for I-90
Lookout Pass to Haugan IN THE Lower Clark Fork Region.
ID...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY until 11 PM MST /10 PM PST/ this evening
for Lolo Pass and Lost Trail Pass IN THE Eastern Lemhi
County...Southern Clearwater Mountains.
&&
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https://www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.Missoula.gov
https://www.twitter.com/NWSMissoulaThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
The ITD sensor and webcams at Whitebird Grade on US-95 reported snow that made slick conditions on the morning of Feb. 14th.
The ITD sensors and webcams indicated snow that fell on US-12 near Kamiah, on US-95 from Ferdinand to Grangeville between 4:30 and 8:30 am PST. This caused road conditions to become slick impacting morning rush hour travel.
The ITD webcam and weather sensor at Greer Grade on highway 11 reported snow that covered the road for at 3 hours causing slick conditions.
A spotter in Salmon reported 2 of wet snow with the storm. They reported that US-93 became slick in spots between Salmon and Lost Trail Pass. The slush on the roads froze overnight and caused slick conditions. The Lemhi County dispatch reported at least one slide-off early Saturday morning Feb. 15. Another slide-off occurred 16 miles south of Salmon late Saturday morning in which a car went into the Salmon River, but its occupants escaped unharmed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2014
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: 488437, 488436, 488434, 488440.