An avalanche blocked a portion of Highway 75 north of Ketchum at 1 pm. m.
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 blocked a portion of Highway 75 north of Ketchum at 1 pm.
By 2:50 p.m. the page indicated that it had been cleared. The avalanche occurred between North Bigwood Drive and West Sage Road.
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 15, 3:06 AM MST, 9 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 306 AM MST MON FEB 15 2016 .UPDATE...TO ADD FLOODING RISK FROM STRONG SNOWMELT IN EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. MESSICK && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 246 AM MST MON FEB 15 2016/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WED NIGHT. WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS RIDING THROUGH THE LONGWAVE RIDGING AND IS STILL ABLE TO GENERATE PRECIPITATION TODAY AND INTO THIS EVENING...SO WILL CONTINUE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE ELEVATIONS PREVIOUSLY FORECASTED IN THE SAME ZONES. THE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW CONTINUES TO GENERATE PRECIPITATION EVEN BEYOND THIS EVENING...MAINLY IN THE UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS. THERE IS A BRIEF COOL-DOWN...BUT A STRONGER TROUGH ENTERS THE FORECAST AREA LATE WED NIGHT. THIS TROUGH IS ALSO BRINGING MILD AIR AND EVEN MORE MOISTURE. WILL NOT DO ANYTHING FORMAL WITH THIS STORM...BUT WILL HIGHLIGHT IN SOCIAL MEDIA. THIS STORM WILL ALSO HAVE HIGH SNOW LEVELS--EVEN THE WED NIGHT LOWS ARE ABOVE FREEZING FOR MUCH OF THE EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. RAIN WILL CONTINUE AT MOST ELEVATIONS BELOW 6000 FEET...AND A RAIN AND SNOW MIX 6000 TO 8000 FEET. PARTIAL CLEARING TUE NIGHT WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES EVEN IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN TO GET BELOW FREEZING ONCE AGAIN. THE OTHER FACTOR TODAY WITH THE PRESENT TROUGH IS THE WIND. WIND ADVISORY IS CURRENTLY OUT...AND SINCE THERE WILL BE AREAS GETTING ABOVE 26KT...HAVE DECIDED TO LEAVE THIS OUT...ALTHOUGH SOME ZONES WILL HAVE AN EASIER TIME REACHING THE THRESHOLD. WOULD SAY THOUGH THAT IT IS A MARGINAL EVENT. THE 700MB WIND IS STRONG BUT NOT ALIGNED CORRECTLY...COLD AIR ADVECTION IS FAIRLY WEEK...AND INSTABILITY ALSO SOMEWHAT WEAK. WIND CONTINUES BREEZY FOR TUE...WEAKENS EVEN MORE FOR WED. LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH NEXT MONDAY. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF DRIVE A FAIRLY MOIST AND ENERGETIC PAC STORM SYSTEM EAST THROUGH THE REGION THURSDAY WITH FALLING SNOW LEVELS AND MODEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FOR THE MOUNTAINS. THE MODELS WERE ALSO SUPPORTING ADVISORY LEVEL WIND SPEEDS THROUGHOUT THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. THE SYSTEM PASSES QUICKLY EAST BY FRIDAY AS THE NEXT PAC LOW TAKES SHAPE OFF THE NW COAST. THE EVOLUTION OF THIS LOW AND RESULTING PRECIPITATION ACROSS SE IDAHO AS DEPICTED BY THE ECMWF AND GFS DIFFER EARLY SATURDAY AND THOSE DIFFERENCES CONTINUE INTO MONDAY AS YET ANOTHER PAC SYSTEM EJECTS INTO THE REGION. GIVEN THE VARYING MODEL TIMING AND STORM TRACKS HAVE DECIDED TO TRY AND NUDGE THE GOING FORECAST TOWARD A BLEND OF THE TWO AFOREMENTIONED MODEL SOLUTIONS WHICH REALLY WASHES OUT ANY PARTICULAR DETAIL. WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THIS TECHNIQUE UNTIL WE GET BETTER MODEL AGREEMENT. DAYTIME TEMPS REMAIN FAIRLY MILD THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH ALL THE ACTIVITY. HUSTON && AVIATION...EARLY MORNING SATELLITE IMAGERY WAS SHOWING A BROAD FLAT RIDGE POSITIONED ALONG THE PAC NW COAST WITH A STEADY STREAM OF PAC MOISTURE SPILLING OVER THE RIDGE INTO SRN IDAHO. OBSERVATIONS AND MODEL CROSS SECTIONS HIGHLIGHT A LAYER OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE PRESENT WITH THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN (IFR/MVFR CIGS) WHICH THE MODELS SLOWLY DISSIPATE AT KBYI AND KPIH LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EVE WHILE KIDA REMAINS FAIRLY WELL ENTRENCHED THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. KSUN REMAINS FAIRLY DRY UNDER VFR PASSING HIGH CLOUDS THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. HUSTON && .HYDROLOGY...NOHRSC MELTING FORECAST FOR LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN AND EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY INDICATES A RISK OF AREAL FLOODING DUE TO THE MELTING. A FLOOD WATCH WILL BE ISSUED FOR THIS. MESSICK && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR IDZ017-021. WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR IDZ017-020-021. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR IDZ019- 023-025. &&
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
An avalanche blocked a portion of Highway 75 north of Ketchum at 1 pm.
By 2:50 p.m. the page indicated that it had been cleared. The avalanche occurred between North Bigwood Drive and West Sage Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2016
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: 617484.