The first major snow storm of the year hit parts of Southwest and South Central Idaho on the second and third of the month.
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.
The first major snow storm of the year hit parts of Southwest and South Central Idaho on the second and third of the month.
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 Nov 2, 2:43 PM MST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
243 PM MST MON NOV 2 2015
...CORRECTED TYPOS...
.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WIDESPREAD RAIN
CONTINUING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG A STALLED COLD FRONT
ALONG THE NEVADA BORDER. THE LARGE UPPER LEVEL LOW /CURRENTLY
MOVING ONSHORE NEAR SFO/ WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA
LATE TONIGHT THAN MOVE NORTH INTO SOUTH-CENTRAL IDAHO BY 18Z
TUESDAY. AS THE LOW SHIFTS DIRECTION FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTH...
THE FRONT ALSO SHIFTS FROM EAST-WEST ORIENTATION TO SOUTHWEST-
NORTHEAST ORIENTATION BY 12Z SITTING ROUGHLY OVER EASTERN OWYHEE
COUNTY THROUGH CAMAS COUNTY IDAHO. THIS WILL BE WHERE THE
PRECIPITATION WILL BE THE HEAVIEST. SNOW LEVELS AT OR AROUND
6000 FEET TONIGHT WILL LOWER TO AROUND 4500 FEET TUESDAY MORNING.
SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY AND CENTRAL/EASTERN OWYHEE COUNTY WILL
SEE RAIN MIXING WITH OR CHANGING TO WET SNOW BETWEEN 2 AM AND
7 AM. MODEL GUIDANCE KEEPS TEMPS AND DEWPOINTS IN THE MAGIC VALLEY
IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S TUESDAY MORNING...AND MODEL SOUNDINGS AT
KTWF/KJER KEEP 850 MB TEMPS AT OR ABOVE 32 F. THIS SUGGESTS THE
WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY WILL REMAIN AS RAIN THROUGH THE EVENT THOUGH
POSSIBLY MIXING WITH WET SNOW WITH THE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION BAND.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHWEST IDAHO
HIGHLANDS AND SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY WHICH HAVE THE BEST CHANCE
FOR 1 TO 3 INCHES OF WET SNOW WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS
TUESDAY MORNING. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TONIGHT AND CONTINUE
THROUGH TUESDAY. THE UPPER TROUGH REMAINS OVER THE REGION THROUGH
WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL CONTINUE BREEZY NORTHWESTERLY WINDS AND A
CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN OF IDAHO.
.LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...PROGRESSIVE PATTERN
REMAINS IN PLACE THROUGH SATURDAY. A WEAK SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL RIDE
THE NW FLOW THROUGH THE REGION BRINGING A CHANCE OF LIGHT
PRECIPITATION FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. THIS IS
ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF A BUILDING RIDGE AND THE FOCUS OF THE SHOWERS
WILL BE OVER E-CENTRAL OREGON AND MTNS OF SW IDAHO. COULD SEE A
RAIN/SNOW SHOWER IN THE SNAKE PLAIN THURSDAY NIGHT BUT IT WON/T
AMOUNT TO MUCH. THE UPPER RIDGE TRANSITIONS ACROSS THE REGION
FRI/SAT ALLOWING FOR A PERIOD OF DRIER CONDITIONS AND A FEW DEGREES
OF WARMING. TEMPERATURES ARE 5-10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL THROUGH
FRIDAY...EDGING CLOSER TO NORMAL ON SATURDAY. AND IF WEDNESDAY
MORNING DOESN/T BRING A FREEZE TO THE SNAKE PLAIN IT SHOULD COME
THURSDAY MORNING THOUGH CONFIDENCE ON THE AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER...
AND THUS COOLING POTENTIAL IS LOW.
SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...NEXT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM SITS OFF THE
BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST SATURDAY NIGHT. MODELS HAVE BEEN IN
DISAGREEMENT OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS ON WHEN TO START PROGRESSING
THIS SYSTEM SOUTHEAST. GFS HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY MORE CONSISTENT WITH
ECMWF HAVING BACKED OFF TIMING THE PAST FEW MODEL RUNS. CONFIDENCE
AT THIS TIME REMAINS LOW FOR TIMING...BUT DID USE A MODEL BLEND WITH
GFS BEING THE MORE DOMINANT OF THE TWO. BEST CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION
LOOK TO BE MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS SHOWING
MOISTURE OVER THE AREA. SNOW LEVELS BETWEEN 4000 TO 4500 FEET MONDAY
AFTERNOON SO ELEVATIONS ABOVE THIS WILL LIKELY SEE SNOW SHOWERS. BY
MONDAY NIGHT SNOW LEVELS DROP DOWN TO 3000 TO 3500 FEET FOR SNOW
SHOWERS TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW
NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD.
&&
.AVIATION...WIDESPREAD LOW VFR AND MVFR CONDITIONS ACROSS S-CENTRAL
IDAHO THROUGH MID-DAY TUESDAY. LOWER CEILINGS WILL OBSCURE TERRAIN
IN THE BOISE MTNS AND HIGHLANDS SOUTH OF THE SNAKE RIVER. LOCAL
IFR CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING SOUTH AND
EAST OF KMUO-KSNT LINE WITH SNOW LEVELS DROPPING TO AROUND 4K FEET
MSL. SURFACE WINDS GENERALLY LESS THAN 12 KTS TODAY...WILL INCREASE
IN SPEED LATER TONIGHT OUT OF THE NORTHWEST. WINDS ALOFT WILL
INCREASE OUT OF THE NORTH TO 25 KTS THROUGH 10K FEET MSL.
&&
.BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 AM TO 11 AM MST TUESDAY
IDZ015-030.
OR...NONE.
&&
WEATHER.GOV/BOISE
SHORT TERM...JDS
LONG TERM....DG/JC
AVIATION.....DGThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The COOP observer at Murphy Hot Springs reported 20 inches of new snow and 48 inches at the base camp at the Three Creek trailhead area at 8500 feet elevation. A NWS employee reported 24 inches of snow at Three Creek.
A trained spotter reported 7 inches of new snow at Hollister and a spotter at Rogerson reported 8 inches.
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, November 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: 602732, 602733.