Winter Weather in Idaho, February 4, 2016

Name: Winter Weather in Idaho, February 4, 2016
Start: 2016-02-04T04:00
End: 2016-02-04T17:00
Location: Idaho

February 4, 2016 · NWS PIH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Several traffic accidents and slide offs occurred on snow covered roads in the Upper Snake River Plain during the morning of February 4th.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $12,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.

Several traffic accidents and slide offs occurred on snow covered roads in the Upper Snake River Plain during the morning of February 4th.

What forecasters said that day

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 4, 3:20 AM MST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 4, 3:20 AM MST, 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
320 AM MST THU FEB 4 2016

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SNAKE RIVER PLAIN
AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS THROUGH 11 PM. SNOW HAS MOVED INTO MAGIC
VALLEY AND SNAKE PLAIN AS OF 3 AM AND CONTINUES TO PUSH EAST.
STILL THINK 1 TO 3 INCH GENERAL SNOW AMOUNTS WITH THIS SYSTEM WITH
POTENTIALLY UP TO 5 INCHES IN EASTERN HIGHLANDS WHERE SNOW SHOULD
LINGER THE LONGEST INTO FRIDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON
WITH GUSTS OF 20 TO 30 MPH POSSIBLE AGAIN MAINLY IN SNAKE PLAIN
AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS. THIS MAY CAUSE SOME LOCALIZED BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW. TRAVEL WILL BE DIFFICULT IN MANY LOCATIONS FOR RUSH
HOUR TODAY WHICH IS WHY THE ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. SHOULD BE DRY
DURING THE DAY FRIDAY AS UPPER RIDGE PUSHES EAST WITH THE NEXT
SYSTEM SLIDING THROUGH SATURDAY WITH LIGHT SNOW LIKELY MAINLY IN
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. COULD SEE SOME BREEZY
CONDITIONS WITH THIS SYSTEM AS WELL. RIDGE REBUILDS TO WEST ON
SATURDAY NIGHT WITH SNOW SHOWERS TAPERING OFF IN THE EAST. COLD
TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TODAY BUT SHOULD BE WARMER THAN LAST
FEW DAYS WITH MORE WARMING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO EVEN ABOVE
NORMAL FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
GK

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL
BE DOMINATED BY A HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WEST. THIS
WILL RESULT IN DRY CONDITIONS. THIS WILL ALSO LEAD TO INVERSION
CONDITIONS...WITH MILD DAYTIME TEMPS AND COLD NIGHTS IN THE VALLEYS.
PATCHY NIGHTTIME FOG AND LOW CLDS MAY ALSO BE AN ISSUE IN THE SNAKE
RIVER PLAIN. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF ARE IN SYNC WITH THIS FEATURE...AT
LEAST THRU WED. THE GFS MAINTAINS THE RIDGE THRU THE PERIOD...BUT
THE ECMWF BEGINS TO FLATTEN THE RIDGE ALLOWING SOME PAC MOISTURE TO
SPILL OVER INTO THE CENTRAL MTNS THU NIGHT. WILL HOLD ONTO THE DRY
CONDITIONS FOR NOW. HEDGES

&&

.AVIATION...LIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING
BRINGING REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND OCNL IFR CIGS. CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED TO BEGIN IMPROVING FROM WEST TO EAST THIS AFTN...BUT LOW
CIGS COULD PERSIST UNTIL EVENING. HEDGES

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR
IDZ019>021-023-025.

&&

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Upper Snake River Plain

When: February 4, 4:00 AM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where: Upper Snake River Plain forecast zone
Property damage: $12,000
Reported by: Newspaper

One to 3 inches of snowfall caused problems with morning rush hour traffic. Around 8 am a semi truck rear-ended an Idaho Department of Transportation snow plow near mile post 108 on interstate 15 south of Idaho Falls. Extensive damage occurred to snow plow equipment as well as the front end of the semi. Several slide offs were reported on Highway 20 between Idaho Falls and Rexburg.

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Idaho in 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, February 2016

Sources

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: 621078.