Another in a series of Pacific storms moved across Southeast Oregon and Southwest Idaho spreading heavy snow over the area.
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 BOI wrote it up.
Another in a series of Pacific storms moved across Southeast Oregon and Southwest Idaho spreading heavy snow over the area.
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 Dec 17, 2:11 AM PST, 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
311 AM MST THU DEC 17 2015
.SHORT TERM...MOSTLY CLEAR AND QUITE COLD THIS NIGHT AHEAD OF
INCOMING PACIFIC STORM AND A HEAVY SNOWFALL LATER TODAY THROUGH
FRIDAY. THE SNOW WILL COME AS THE STORM/S WARM FRONT MOVES
THROUGH EASTERN OREGON LATE TODAY AND WESTERN IDAHO TONIGHT.
HEAVIEST SNOW WILL FALL IN BAKER COUNTY ACROSS THE IDAHO BORDER
INTO THE UPPER WEISER RIVER AREA AND THE WEST CENTRAL IDAHO
MOUNTAINS. THE LATTER AREAS WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE SNOW...
MODERATE TO HEAVY ALL THE WAY THROUGH FRIDAY. FARTHER SOUTH
LESS SNOW IS EXPECTED AND THE SNOW LEVEL WILL RISE TO NEAR
5000 FEET DURING THE NIGHT AND STAY THERE THROUGH FRIDAY.
WIND SHOULD NOT BE A MAJOR FACTOR IN THIS STORM. TEMPERATURES
WILL RISE TO NEAR FREEZING IN THE VALLEYS LATE TODAY AND THEN
HOLD STEADY OR SLOWLY RISE THROUGH NIGHT NIGHT...AND THEN TO
NEAR 40 DEGREES FRIDAY. IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NORTH TEMPS
WILL ALSO RISE THROUGH THE 20S LATE TODAY...HOLD STEADY TONIGHT
...THEN REACH THE 30S FRIDAY.
.LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. ACTIVE PATTERN CONTINUES
WITH SEVERAL BOUTS OF MOISTURE...FRONTS...AND CONTINUED
PRECIPITATION. PARTIALLY STALLED WARM FRONT FROM FRIDAY WILL BE
PUSHED OUT BY A COLD FRONT ON SATURDAY...WITH SNOW LEVELS BEGINNING
AROUND 4000-5000 FT THEN LOWERING TO VALLEY FLOORS BEHIND THE FRONT.
HOWEVER...A BREAK IN PRECIP BEHIND THE FRONT WILL PREVENT MUCH
ACCUMULATIONS IN VALLEY FLOORS...SO THE ESTIMATE NOW IS LESS THAN
ONE HALF INCH ON SATURDAY EVENING. HOWEVER...IN MOUNTAIN AREAS...
ESPECIALLY THE IDAHO CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...5-10 INCHES IS
FORECAST. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH ON SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER WEAK
COLD FRONT WILL REINFORCE THE COLDER SURFACE AIR AND BRING ANOTHER
BATCH OF PRECIP...MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON AND
CONTINUING THROUGH MONDAY. ANOTHER INCH IS POSSIBLE AT VALLEY
FLOORS...WITH UP TO 6 MORE INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS. BY MONDAY
AFTERNOON...THE AREA TRANSITIONS INTO ANOTHER WARM SECTOR FLOW WITH
YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE. SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE ONCE AGAIN TO 3000-4000
FT TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...THE FINER DETAILS ARE STILL A BIT
MUDDLED BUT MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW THIS ACTIVE PATTERN...SO POPS
REMAIN ABOVE CLIMO. TEMPERATURES LOOK TO REMAIN WITHIN 5 DEGREES OF
NORMAL THROUGH THE ENTIRE PERIOD.
&&
.AVIATION...MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS NOW ARE EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE
THROUGH THE DAY WITH IFR AND OCCASIONAL LIFR VIS/CEILING AS SNOW
MOVES IN. THESE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST
18/12Z. SURFACE WINDS GENERALLY 15 KTS OR LESS...EXCEPT IN THE MAGIC
VALLEY WHERE GUSTS 20-25 KTS ARE POSSIBLE. WINDS ALOFT NEAR 10K FT
MSL...WEST 20-25 KTS...THEN AFTER 17/18Z INCREASING TO 45-55 KTS.
&&
.BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 AM MST FRIDAY
IDZ012>014-016-029.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 AM MST FRIDAY
IDZ011.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 11 AM MST FRIDAY IDZ033/
OR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 AM MST/ 10 AM PST/ THIS MORNING
TO 5 AM MST /4 AM PST/ FRIDAY ORZ063-064.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 AM PST FRIDAY ORZ062.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON ORZ061.
&&
WEATHER.GOV/BOISE
SHORT TERM...LC
LONG TERM....EP
AVIATION.....EPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotters around Burns and Hines reported 5 to 7 inches of new snow.
Various reports of heavy snow were received including 4 to 7 inches of new snow around the Baker area, 11 inches at Halfway and 13 inches at Oxbow.
An observer near Brogan, Oregon reported 5 inches of new snow.
Reports of 4 to 6 inches of new snow were posted on a social media site.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, December 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: 612383, 612385, 612416, 612419.