A strong Pacific story system brought heavy snow to high elevations in southeast Idaho. Amounts of 10 to 23 inches occurred.
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 strong Pacific story system brought heavy snow to high elevations in southeast Idaho. Amounts of 10 to 23 inches occurred.
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 7, 3:33 AM MST, 9 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 333 AM MST Tue Feb 7 2017 .SHORT TERM...Today and Wednesday. A steady stream of moisture continues this morning with rain and snow generally south of a Jerome to Driggs line. This is where most of the precipitation is occurring, with even some slushy snow down to lowest valleys floors on occasion. This band starts to lift north later this morning, and by afternoon is already through eastern Idaho. Some lingering precipitation mainly closer to the Wyoming border and also in the Sawtooths. A few showers will also remain possible elsewhere. Snow levels rise as the warm front and precipitation band shoots north, and by afternoon in most areas will range in the 5500-6500ft. They will be a little lower near Island Park and Monida, but actually closer to 7000ft across the southern highlands and also for the Sawtooths and Boulders. We almost forgot to mention, winds ramp up quickly AGAIN today. For winter headlines, we are extending (AGAIN) the warning for the southeast corner due to snow and increasing winds through this evening. Another 5-11" is possible above 6500ft, with a quick drop in amounts below that. We are going to issue a Winter Weather Advisory for the higher elevations of the south-central highlands AND the Magic Valley. For the highlands, this is above 5500ft and north toward the Lava Beds in the Magic Valley. Those areas will see a quick additional 3-4 inches before things warm up. For the Wood River Valley and Sawtooths, another 3-5" is possible IF the heavier snow reaches that far north. If not, expect about half that. For the rest of the area, we'll see anywhere from rain/snow mix with little/no accumulation up to 3", depending on location and elevation. Precipitation wise, overnight and Wednesday will mainly have light precipitation across the Sawtooths and eastern highlands, with a few showers possible elsewhere. Back to the wind, we are looking at another windy period especially late this afternoon through the overnight hours. We usually don't see very strong winds at night but this looks to be the exception. The pressure gradient tightens along with increasing mid level winds. We should see enough mixing to keep the winds going well into the night. The strongest winds will be across the Snake Plain and mid/upper slopes especially across the southern and eastern highlands. Sustained winds across the Plain reach 30-35mph with gusts into the 50s. For those highland areas, 25-35mph sustained with gusts in the 40s and 50s is forecast. The higher up you go, the higher the wind. For now, we will issue a Wind Advisory for the Snake Plain, with the idea that we may need to expand that. The winds will die down on Wednesday. Keyes .LONG TERM...Wednesday night through Tuesday night. Not much difference in the model solutions. A broad upper ridge over the west will do little to curb precip Wed night thru Thu night as Pac moisture continues to stream in. The ridge will keep temps up...and push snow levels up fairly high. Around a foot of snow looks possible in the upslope prone areas of the central mtns...and several inches in the eastern highlands by Fri morning. Most above 7000 ft. The rest of the area should see mainly rain. The light at the end of the tunnel finally arrives by Sunday...as upper ridging builds into the west coast. The upper ridge is expected to dominate with dry conditions and mild temps thru Tue night. Hedges && .AVIATION...Another wave moving thru the moist westerly flow today will result in widespread precip and low cigs thru this aftn. Conditions are expected to improve later this aftn. Snow this morn will change over to rain in the valleys...but will stay snow at KSUN and KDIJ. Winds will become stronger this aftn...and increase during the eve hours in the wake of the upper trof. Hedges && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch through this evening for IDZ017-021>024. Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 5 AM MST Wednesday for IDZ020-021. Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM MST this evening for IDZ023-025. Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST this morning for IDZ017- 022. &&
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
932 AM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0929 AM FLOOD 1 SW ACEQUIA 42.66N 113.61W
02/07/2017 MINIDOKA ID LAW ENFORCEMENT
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED 8 TO 9 INCHES OF WATER COVERING
STATE ROUTE 24 BETWEEN ACEQUIA AND RUPERT. THE FLOODING
IS FROM RAIN AND SNOW MELT.
&&
RSURVICKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1118 AM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1116 AM SNOW 3 SSW REXBURG 43.78N 111.80W
02/07/2017 M3.0 INCH MADISON ID TRAINED SPOTTER
SNOW FELL AT A RATE OF ONE INCH IN ONE HOUR AND WAS
CONTINUING HEAVY AT THE TIME OF OBSERVATION.
&&
JMESSICKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1128 AM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1116 AM SNOW 3 SSW REXBURG 43.78N 111.80W
02/07/2017 M4.0 INCH MADISON ID TRAINED SPOTTER
SNOW FELL AT A RATE IN EXCESS ONE INCH IN ONE HOUR AND
WAS CONTINUING HEAVY AT THE TIME OF OBSERVATION.
&&
JMESSICKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1222 PM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1220 PM SNOW NNE RIGBY 43.68N 111.91W
02/07/2017 M2.0 INCH JEFFERSON ID CO-OP OBSERVER
SNOW STARTED AT 0830 MST, STORM TOTAL SO FAR.
&&
JMESSICKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1229 PM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1200 PM SNOW CHUBBUCK 42.92N 112.46W
02/07/2017 M2.5 INCH BANNOCK ID NWS EMPLOYEE
12-HOUR TOTAL
&&
MHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1232 PM MST TUE FEB 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1149 AM SNOW SHOSHONE 42.94N 114.40W
02/07/2017 E3.0 INCH LINCOLN ID COUNTY OFFICIAL
12-HOUR TOTAL
&&
MH5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
SNOTEL snow amounts were: 8 inches Chocolate Gulch, 19 inches Galena, 16 inches Dollarhide Summit, 15 inches Galena Summit, 10 inches Hyndman, 22 inches Lost Wood Divide, 8 inches Swede Peak, and 26 inches Vienna Mine.
Heaviest SNOTEL amounts were 18 inches at Bear Canyon and 15 inches at Mill Creek Summit. 11 inches fell at the Stanley COOP site.
Ten inches of snow fell at the Emigrant Summit SNOTEL sites.
The Howell Canyon SNOTEL received 16 inches of snow.
At the White Elephant SNOTEL site 12 inches of snow fell. 6 inches fell Island Park.
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: 681088, 680820, 681086, 680841, 680836.