A Pacific storm system brought 9 to 17 inches of snow to the central mountains.
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.
A Pacific storm system brought 9 to 17 inches of snow to the central mountains.
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 17, 1:34 PM MST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 134 PM MST WED FEB 17 2016 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROOUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE PAC NW TODAY WILL SPREAD HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE CENTRAL MTNS STARTING THIS AFTN AND PROGRESSING TO THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS THIS EVENING. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY...TAPERING OFF TO SCT SNOW SHOWERS THURSDAY EVE. SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH TONIGHT...AND FALL THU AFTN WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT. THE CENTRAL MTNS MAY SEE UP TO A FOOT OF SNOW...WHILE THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS MAY SEE UP TO 10 INCHES. LOW ELEVATIONS SHOULD SEE MAINLY RAIN...BUT MAY SEE A RAIN/SNOW MIX THU AFTN AFTER THE COLD FRONT PASSES. ACCUMULATIONS IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS SHOULD BE MINIMAL. OVERALL PRECIP SHOULD REMAIN LIGHT IN THE I-86 CORRIDOR THU MORN DUE TO DOWNSLOPE FLOW WITH THE SOUTHERLY WINDS. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP TOWARD MORNING IN THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS AND THE ADJACENT SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT...WINDS WILL BECOME MORE WESTERLY AND INCREASE ACROSS THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN/EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY THU AFTN. WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 50 MPH. BRIEF UPPER RIDGING ON FRI IS EXPECTED TO LIMIT PRECIP TO WIDELY SCT SNOW SHOWERS IN THE CENTRAL MTNS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. PRECIP BEGINS TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE IN THE CENTRAL MTNS FRI NIGHT AS THE RIDGE FLATTENS TO WESTERLY FLOW. HEDGES .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY. BOTH GFS AND EUROPEAN NOW IN AGREEMENT WITH A SYSTEM TO AFFECT REGION SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT SNOW AND PERHAPS A RAIN OR SNOW MIX IN SNAKE PLAIN WITH PASSING OF NEXT COLD FRONT SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. VERY FAR OUT SO LOW CONFIDENCE BUT MODELS DO INDICATE HIGHS COOLING TO SEASONAL NORMAL BY MONDAY. FOR NOW ONLY CHANGE WAS UPPING POPS SOMEWHAT SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. RIDGE REBUILDS TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY WITH WARMING TEMPERATURES AGAIN. GK && .AVIATION...STRONG PACIFIC SYSTEM TO AFFECT TAF SITES TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE WARM ENOUGH FOR RAIN ALL SITES TONIGHT THOUGH MAY CHANGE TO SNOW THURSDAY AT SUN. DID DROP SUN TO BELOW MINIMUMS EARLY THURSDAY MORNING IN THE RAIN WITH LOW CEILINGS. DROPPED IDA TO MVFR CEILINGS AND KEPT BYI AND PIH AT VFR LEVELS WITH SOUTHERLY WINDS INDUCING DOWNSLOPE CONDITIONS THERE SO FOR NOW KEPT CEILINGS A BIT ELEVATED. PASSAGE OF COLD FRONT WILL LEAD TO STRONG WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS THURSDAY BY LATE MORNING AT BYI...PIH AND IDA AND COULD SEE SUSTAINED 30 KNOT PLUS WINDS BY EARLY AFTERNOON. GK && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM TO 8 PM MST THURSDAY FOR IDZ017-020-021. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 11 PM MST THURSDAY FOR IDZ019-023-025. WIND ADVISORY FROM 5 AM TO 5 PM MST THURSDAY FOR IDZ022. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 11 PM MST THURSDAY FOR IDZ018-031. &&
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy SNOTEL snow amounts were: Bear Canyon 13 inches, Mill Creek Summit 9 inches, and Smiley Mountain 17 inches.
Heavy SNOTEL amounts were: 9 inches at Dollarhide, 11 inches at Galena Summit, 9 inches at Hyndman, and 10 inches at Swede Peak.
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: 617480, 617481.