An avalanche occurred in Blaine County in the Smiley Creek area between Ketchum and Stanley. Four snowmobliers were buried in a meadow area when the avalanche occurred around 2 pm MST.
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.
An avalanche occurred in Blaine County in the Smiley Creek area between Ketchum and Stanley. Four snowmobliers were buried in a meadow area when the avalanche occurred around 2 pm MST. Three of the snowmobliers survived with one fatality occurring.
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 Feb 16, 1:56 PM MST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 156 PM MST SUN FEB 16 2014 .SHORT TERM...STRONG GRADIENT THIS AFTERNOON BEHIND EXITING STORM SYSTEM KEEPING WINDS AT THE MIDDLE TO TOP END OF ADVISORY. THE WINDS WILL LINGER AFTER 00Z BUT WILL ALLOW THE ADVISORY TO EXPIRE THEN. A FEW ISOLATED SNOW BANDS IN THE UPPER SNAKE VALLEY AND OVER EASTERN HIGHLANDS COMBINED WITH THE STRONG WINDS WILL KEEP ADVERSE CONDITIONS ABOVE 6500 FEET SO WILL KEEP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY GOING UNTIL 5 PM ALSO. A BRIEF BREAK IN THE WESTERLY FLOWS OVERNIGHT AND MONDAY WITH TEMPERATURES STILL A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL FOR DAYTIME HIGHS. BUT WITH TONIGHTS LOW TEMPERATURES DIPPING BELOW THE FREEZING MARK IMPACTS FROM SNOWMELT ON FROZEN GROUND FLOODING SHOULD BE MINIMAL EXPECT IN THE THE PORTNEUF MARSH VALLEY AREA WHERE FLOOD ADVISORY CONTINUES INTO MONDAY. A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM TO PUSH THROUGH LATE ON MONDAY INTO TUESDAY WITH SOME SNOW SHOWERS IN THE THE CENTRAL IDAHO MOUNTAINS... OTHERWISE JUST BREEZY CONDITIONS FOR IMPACTS ACROSS THE REST OF SOUTHEAST IDAHO. PRESTON .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. MODELS ARE PROJECTING UPPER TROUGH MAKING LANDFALL INTO WA/OR TUESDAY NIGHT AND PROGRESSING EASTWARD INTO SOUTHEAST IDAHO BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. GOOD AGREEMENT AMONG GFS/ECMWF/GEM ON TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM. THIS AND A SECOND UPPER TROUGH PROJECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT SHOULD KEEP POPS FAIRLY HIGH. UPPER RIDGING BUILDING INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA ON FRIDAY AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND WILL CUT OFF OUR WARM PACIFIC MOISTURE AS WE TRANSITION INTO A DRIER AND COOLER PATTERN THROUGH THE WEEKEND. HINSBERGER && .AVIATION...MAIN CONCERN WILL BE TIMING OF WEATHER ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST IDAHO THIS AFTERNOON. RADAR BAND ALONG THE FRONT IS MOVING QUICKLY ACROSS THE MAGIC VALLEY. CLEARING IN THE LOW LEVELS SHOULD OCCUR FAIRLY QUICKLY AFTER FROPA...SOMETHING SUPPORTED BY BUFR SOUNDINGS. SOUNDINGS ALSO SUGGESTING A BIT OF INSTABILITY THIS AFTERNOON AND MAY LEAD TO BRIEF SNOWSHOWERS...AND POSSIBLY THUNDER. WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND SHOULD TAPER OFF BY EARLY EVENING. HINSBERGER && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON IDZ017-020>022. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR THE IDZ023-025. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR THE IDZ019. FLOOD ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM MST MONDAY FOR THE PORTNEUF RIVER FROM MACCAMMON AREA TO THE PORTNEUF GAP. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 543 AM MST SUN FEB 16 2014 IDZ017>025-031-032-171245- 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- 543 AM MST SUN FEB 16 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT AND AN END TO THE STEADY STREAM OF MOISTURE ARRIVES TODAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP THE VALLEY FLOORS BUT PRECIPITATION SHOULD END ACROSS THE SNAKE PLAIN BEFORE THE COLD ARRIVES. WE WILL CONTINUE TO SEE ISSUES WITH RAIN ON TOP OF SNOW OR FROZEN GROUND AS WELL. WE HAVE MULTIPLE WINTER WEATHER...FLOOD AND AVALANCHE RELATED HEADLINES OUT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. PLEASE VISIT WEATHER.GOV/POCATELLO FOR MORE DETAILS. IT WILL BE WINDY TODAY SO EXPECT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF THE SNAKE PLAIN...MAGIC VALLEY AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS BECAUSE OF 25-35 MPH WINDS WITH GUSTS OF 40-50 MPH FROM 7AM TO 5PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LOOK FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF MOISTURE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF MOUNTAIN SNOW IS EXPECTED. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER MOIST SYSTEM ON THURSDAY. .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.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
An avalanche occurred in Blaine County in the Smiley Creek area between Ketchum and Stanley. Four snowmobliers were buried in a meadow area when the avalanche occurred around 2 pm MST. Three of the snowmobliers survived with one fatality occurring.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Big and Little Wood River Region | 2014-02-16 | 64 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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: 503021.