South Central Highlands, Caribou Highlands and the Idaho Wasatch. Many traffic problems were encountered with the heavy snow.
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 early spring snowstorm dropped over a foot of snow in many locations in the Eastern Magic Valley...South Central Highlands, Caribou Highlands and the Idaho Wasatch. Many traffic problems were encountered with the heavy snow.
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 Mar 27, 12:39 PM MST, 5 hours 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 139 PM MDT SUN MAR 27 2016 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. CURRENT SATELLITE TRENDS SUPPORT DEPICTION OF DEVELOPING UPPER TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. ENHANCED CLOUD TOPS OVER SOUTHEASTERN OREGON SUGGEST COLD FRONT INTENSIFYING AS IT PUSHES INTO IDAHO. MODELS SUPPORT ENHANCED FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING OVER CASSIA AND ONEIDA COUNTIES THIS EVENING AS THE FRONT MAKES ITS WAY ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA. STRONGEST KINEMATIC FORCING LAGS TO THE WEST AS THE UPPER LOW DEVELOPS OVER THE GREAT BASIN. AS THE SURFACE FRONT PASSES...SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAINLY ABOVE 6000 FT. SNOW AMOUNTS THIS EVENING THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING NOT QUITE AS IMPRESSIVE...BUT WITH THE STRONG MESOSCALE FORCING THERE COULD BE QUICK BURSTS OF DIFFICULT CONDITIONS. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ARE BEST ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE FRONT THIS EVENING AND MAY CONTRIBUTE TO SOME LOCALLY HEAVIER SNOW IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. MODELS SUGGEST A SHORT BREAK IN THE ACTIVITY AS THE UPPER LOW FULLY DEVELOPS IN NORTHWEST NEVADA...BUT WE SHOULD SEE SNOW BANDS PIVOT AROUND THE LOW INTO SOUTHEAST IDAHO STARTING MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE LOW WILL TRACK INTO UTAH BY TUESDAY MORNING. THIS PATTERN IS GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF HEAVIER SNOWFALL. TOTAL SNOW AMOUNTS WITH THE WRAP- AROUND MOISTURE WILL BE AROUND 10 TO 14 INCHES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS ABOVE 6000 FT...5 TO 7 INCHES IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS AND ABOUT 3 TO 5 INCHES OVER MUCH OF THE SNAKE PLAIN. NEW MODEL RUNS SUPPORT SOME ENHANCED SNOW AMOUNTS IN THE SOUTHERN CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ARE ALSO SHIFTING MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN QPF FIELD A BIT FURTHER TO THE WEST TOWARDS CASSIA COUNTY. KEEPING WINTER STORM WATCH ACTIVE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. SURFACE GRADIENT TIGHTENS UP MONDAY NIGHT ALONG THE MT BORDER AND INTO THE SNAKE PLAIN SO MAY SEE IMPACTS FROM BLOWING SNOW AS WELL. HINSBERGER .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. THE PATTERN WILL TREND WARMER AND DRIER LATE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND AS THE UPPER-LEVEL LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANTICIPATED ACTIVE WEATHER EARLY THIS WEEK SHIFTS EAST OF THE REGION BY THIS TIME. AMPLIFIED MERIDIONAL FLOW WILL BE IN PLACE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT AS AN INTENSE UPPER JET DIGS SOUTH THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES/HIGH PLAINS BETWEEN A STRONG EASTERN PACIFIC BLOCKING RIDGE AND THE DEPARTING TROUGH MAKING ITS WAY EAST ACROSS THE PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST. ON THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER RIDGE...TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL ACROSS SOUTHEAST ID ON THURSDAY TO ROUND OUT THE MONTH OF MARCH. THE UPPER JET/SHORTWAVE ENERGY DIVING SOUTH WILL SUPPORT SOME LIGHT VALLEY RAIN/MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. AS THE DAMPENING UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS EAST ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS AND ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL...WITH PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY AND SNAKE PLAIN LIKELY HITTING THE LOWER 60S FOR HIGHS BY SATURDAY. THE MILD TEMPERATURES LOOK TO CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY...BUT SHOWER CHANCES MAY RETURN AHEAD OF AN UPPER TROUGH. KB && .AVIATION...AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ATTENDANT COLD FRONT WILL BRING DETERIORATING CONDITIONS FROM WEST TO EAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS INITIALLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL VEER TO THE WEST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEHIND THE FRONT. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN FOCUS FOR PRECIPITATION SHOULD SHIFT EAST/SOUTHEAST OF THE TERMINALS BY MIDNIGHT. NEAR-SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN WARM ENOUGH TO KEEP MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION AS RAIN...ALTHOUGH CAN/T RULE OUT SOME SNOW MIXING IN AS THE PRECIP IS TAPERING OFF THIS EVENING. MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE HEAVIER SHOWERS. SCATTERED LOW CLOUDS WILL LINGER OVERNIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING...WITH SOME MVFR CIGS POSSIBLE AT TIMES. KB && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT MONDAY FOR IDZ019-022-023-025. WINTER STORM WATCH FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT FOR IDZ019-022-023-025. &&
4 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Very heavy snowfall fell in the Caribou Highlands with spotters reporting 10 to 16 inches in Soda Springs, 9 inches near Grace, and 8 inches in Bancroft. The Sedgwick Peak SNOTEL recorded 16 inches of snowfall.
Spotter measured 16 inches of snow total from storm south of Soda Springs in Bear Lake County just south of Caribou County line. Emigrant Summit SNOTEL site also recorded 16 inches of snow.
An upper level low moving through Utah brought extremely heavy snow to the region. Spotters reported 12 inches in Malta with drifts over two feet. 13 inches were reported in Albion. SNOTEL mountain amounts were 14 inches at Bostetter Ranger Station, 29 inches at Howell Canyon, and 13 inches at Magic Mountain.
A strong upper level low moving through Utah brought extremely heavy and wet snow to the Eastern Magic Valley. The snow caused extensive tree damage due to its very wet nature. All schools in Minidoka and Cassia Counties were closed on March 29th. Amounts recorded were 14 to 16 inches in Declo, 10 to 14 inches in Rupert, 9 to 13 inches in Burley, 10 to 12 inches in Paul and 10 inches in Heyburn. Several slide offs and traffic accidents were reported including on Interstate 84.
Not much snow fell in the Pocatello area. Generally 1 to 3 inches of snow fell but it all fell between 7 and 10 am making morning rush hour traffic very difficult. Many traffic accidents and slide offs occurred in Pocatello and on interstate 15 and early morning travel was extemely hazardous. Some School District 25 school buses in Pocatello were unable to pick up children due to the road conditions and many students were very late to school due to the timing of the snowfall and road conditions.
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, March 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: 625518, 625516, 625312, 625310, 625311.