Many mountain locations in southeast Idaho recorded 7 to 20 inches of snowfall on the 4th and 5th of January.
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.
Many mountain locations in southeast Idaho recorded 7 to 20 inches of snowfall on the 4th and 5th of January.
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 Jan 4, 2:20 AM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 220 AM MST SUN JAN 4 2015 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ACTIVE WEATHER RETURNS TODAY WITH A PLUME OF PACIFIC MOISTURE ROUNDING A BROAD UPPER RIDGE INTO THE PAC NW. MODELS GAINING CONFIDENCE IN SNOW AMOUNTS OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS...PARTICULARLY IN AREAS FAVORING UPSLOPE FLOW. SNOWFALL RATE WILL GRADUALLY INTENSIFY OVERNIGHT WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW FALLING MONDAY MORNING. SNOW AMOUNTS ABOVE 7000 FT COULD EXCEED 20 INCHES OVER THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT. THIS AREA IS SUFFICIENTLY COVERED BY CURRENT HEADLINES WITH A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR CENTRAL IDAHO ZONES 18 AND 31...AS WELL AS ZONES 19...23 AND 25 IN THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS. WE WILL ALSO BE CONTINUING WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE UPPER SNAKE PLAIN WITH 5 TO 8 INCHES EXPECTED BETWEEN IDAHO FALLS AND REXBURG THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT. MODELS ARE ALSO TRENDING A BIT WINDIER MONDAY MORNING AS THE GRADIENT TIGHTENS OVER THE AREA. THIS COULD LEAD TO AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. TEMPERATURES REMAIN A CHALLENGE AS WELL. WITH THE CURRENT SNOWPACK...WE HAVE BEEN SEEING TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW GUIDANCE. WE HAVE BEEN GETTING WARMER OVER THE LAST COUPLE DAYS SINCE THE NEW YEARS ARCTIC BLAST. MADE ONLY MINOR TWEAKS TO OUR FORECAST MAX/MIN...GENERALLY KEEPING THEM BELOW MODEL GUIDANCE. HINSBERGER .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY WEATHER TO THE AREA INTO THURSDAY. AT WHICH POINT A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION. HOWEVER MODELS DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY ON THE TIMING/STRENGTH OF THIS NEXT SYSTEM. SO LOTS OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS SYSTEM AT THIS POINT. VALLE && .AVIATION...A STRONG PUSH OF MOISTURE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY AND MONDAY. MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL STAY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHLANDS. BUT SOME LOWER CEILINGS AND OCCASIONALLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES WILL BE POSSIBLE AT ALL TAF SITES TODAY. EXPECT GUSTY WINDS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS WELL. VALLE && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT MST MONDAY NIGHT IDZ020. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST MONDAY NIGHT IDZ019-023-025. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST MONDAY ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR THE IDZ031. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST MONDAY IDZ018. &&
4 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
SNOTEL snow reports were the following: Island Park 15 inches, Phillips Bench 17 inches, and White Elephant 16 inches. Idaho route 32 was closed in both directions due to drifting snow and low visibility from mile post 0 to mile post 28 between Ashton and Tetonia on the morning of January 5th.
SNOTEL snow amounts were 20 inches at Pine Creek Pass, 9 inches at Somsen Ranch, and 8 inches at Sheep Mountain. A vehicle rollover occurred in Inkom on East Green Canyon Road due to icy conditions closing the road for two hours. No serious injuries occurred.
One foot of snow fell at the Slug Creek Divide SNOTEL.
SNOTEL amounts were the following: 7 inches at Dollarhide, 6 inches at Galena Summit, and 15 inches at Vienna Mine.
Ten inches of snow fell at the Morgan Creek and Meadow Lake SNOTEL sites with 9 inches at Moonshine.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2015
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: 554400, 554402, 554403, 554404, 554405.