US Highway 20 and Idaho 87 closed between Island Park and the Montana border and Highway 87 was also closed between the US Highway 20 junction and the Montana border at 11 am on the 6th. High winds with gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused extensive drifting and blowing 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.
US Highway 20 and Idaho 87 closed between Island Park and the Montana border and Highway 87 was also closed between the US Highway 20 junction and the Montana border at 11 am on the 6th. High winds with gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused extensive drifting and blowing 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 Feb 6, 3:16 AM MST, 6 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 316 AM MST Mon Feb 6 2017 .SHORT TERM...Today through Wednesday. The storm off the coast will keep trucking east along the US/Canada border today. We are see a surge of moisture this morning working across eastern Idaho. Most of this has been falling in the mountains, with little reaching lowest elevations so far. It looks a bit too dry initially for some of these areas to get precipitation right off the bat, but eventually light amounts will fall. Snow levels are in the 5000-7000ft range as of 2am for most places. They will change little today this morning, but the potential is there for them to rise another 500ft ahead of the cold front. That front arrives late this afternoon and pushes to near the Utah border overnight. Winds are already howling in some places and will only get stronger this afternoon and evening. The strongest winds will be across the Upper Plain and also slopes above 6500ft, peaking at 25-35mph sustained with gusts of 40-50mph. Even with wet snow, some blowing is expected in the mountains. Down in the valleys, expect larger vehicles to have issues especially with crosswinds. A WIND ADVISORY remains in place for the Upper Plain. We are also expecting a few thunderstorms this afternoon. By this evening and overnight, most of the precipitation will shift into the southern and southeast highlands with lingering showers farther north and west. Snow levels drop, but still remain in the 4500-6000ft range along/ahead of the boundary. Behind it, any showers will be all snow. We currently have WINTER STORM WARNINGS for portions of the central mountains and eastern highlands through this evening. Those aren't going to be changed at the moment. It's possible (and yes we realize some people might have warning fatigue) that we may need to extend it across the southeast corner through sunrise. The highest snowfall will be above 6500ft with another 5-10" in the warning areas. Locally higher amounts are possible above 8000ft. Other ranges will see 1-4 inches and some places below 6500ft may see similar amounts like in the Upper Snake Highlands and in the Wood River Valley. Rainfall still looks like although we could some decent downpours across the Snake Plain, Magic Valley and southern highlands if we get some good showers or storms going. See the hydrology section for more on any potential flooding. We see all of that moisture quickly shift back to the north tomorrow, as the cold front becomes a warm front and lifts back across eastern Idaho. Snow levels crash to valley floors briefly in the morning, but jump back up to between 4500 and 6500ft south of a Shoshone to Driggs line. Coincidentally, we also expect most of the precipitation to fall south of that line as well. 1-4 inches of snow is possible in the valleys and 4-8 inches for the mountains. Rainfall amounts will be light although some pockets of heavier rain MIGHT fall. Confidence for that remains low as the models have poorly handled valley rain so far with this event. For Tuesday night and Wednesday, precipitation becomes more focused in the mountains. If you are thinking, does that more snow for the eastern highlands and Sawtooths...you're right. The rest of us will see some spotty light precipitation. Any cooldown behind this front is gone by Wednesday. Keyes .LONG TERM...Wednesday night through Monday night. Both GFS and ECMWF build a broad upper ridge over the west Thu night. Pac moisture is still flowing into the ridge...with precip in the usual westerly flow upslope regions of the central mtns and eastern highlands. The GFS is the wettest of the models. By Thu...the ridge axis moves east. This allows for more Pac moisture to flow into ID on southwest flow. Thus more widespread precip Thu and Thu night. The southwest flow means warmer temps so precip is expected to remain liquid at the lower elevations...with snow upwards of 7000ft or higher. Precip backs off somewhat on Fri...but the movement of an upper trof into the west coast maintains the threat of precip across the region. As the trof moves east on Sat...upper ridging builds into the west. This results in decreasing precip chances...with dry conditions expected Sat night thru Mon night. Hedges && .AVIATION...Moist westerly flow will bring another round of precip to the area today...along with lower cigs. Rain can be expected at KPIH and KBYI...with a rain/snow mix at KSUN...KIDA and KDGS. Strong southerly winds at KPIH this morn will become more southwesterly this aftn and spread into the upper Snake River Plain. Hedges && .HYDROLOGY...We did cancel the Flood Watch for Cassia and Oneida Counties last night, but we have received a couple of reports of flooding since then. We might finally see some rainfall down there late this afternoon and evening as the cold front arrives. For now, we will NOT issue/re-issue any headlines. Other lower elevations across the Magic Valley, Lower Plain and valleys near the Utah border could still see some localized lowland flooding as well. Keyes && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM MST this evening for IDZ018-019- 023-025-031. Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 10 PM MST this evening for IDZ020. &&
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
US Highway 20 and Idaho 87 closed between Island Park and the Montana border and Highway 87 was also closed between the US Highway 20 junction and the Montana border at 11 am on the 6th. High winds with gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused extensive drifting and blowing snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2017
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: 682233.