Oregon, 2017

Flood in Oregon, February 10, 2017

February 10, 2017 · NWS BOI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

S. Highway 20.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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 BOI wrote it up.

Ice Jams on the Malheur River caused flooding in areas along U.S. Highway 20.

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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 10, 3:14 AM MST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 3:14 AM MST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Boise ID
314 AM MST Fri Feb 10 2017

.SHORT TERM...Cold front passing through swrn Idaho at this hour
with rain showers.  Front and showers will shift to south-central
Idaho this morning and exit our CWA this evening.  Satellite shows
a flat wave on the front in southeast Oregon that may keep showers
going in swrn Idaho until sunrise, a little longer than progged.
Upper trough along the northwest coast will move inland today with
a couple more weak shower bands, but the main thing will be
significant cooling tonight and Saturday.  The cooling will lower
the snow level and halt the snowmelt tonight through the weekend.
But melting is fully underway now and additional rain will keep
flood advisories and warnings and avalanche warnings going today.
Winds will shift from southeast to light northwest today and
continue from the northwest tonight and Saturday.

.LONG TERM...Sunday through Friday...An upper level ridge will build
across the region starting Sunday afternoon. Temperatures aloft will
warm, causing an inversion to develop. Expect mostly sunny skies
across most of the region except for the lower Treasure Valley where
stratus could develop and linger. Temperatures will be right around
normal in the Upper Treasure and Magic Valleys, except well above
normal in the mountains, and below normal near Ontario, OR,
depending on stratus development. Temperatures around 10,000ft MSL
warm to unseasonably warm values, near 36F on Wednesday afternoon.
The upper level ridge begins to break down by Thursday, and
unsettled conditions return with snow and freezing levels lowering
to around 4,000-5,000 ft by Saturday.

&&

.AVIATION...Widespread precipitation and mountain obscuration
this morning over the central Idaho mountains, with MVFR and local
IFR conditions. Precipitation decreasing to scattered showers this
afternoon. Elsewhere conditions mainly VFR with isolated to
scattered showers today. Snow levels 7kft MSL lowering to 4-5k ft
this afternoon. Surface winds generally SW-SE 5-15kt, becoming
westerly 5-15kt this afternoon. Winds aloft at around 10k ft
MSL: westerly 20-30kt.

Weekend Outlook...A secondary cold front will move through region
tonight bringing a round of showers with snow levels lowering
to around 3k. Expect dry conditions and light winds Saturday and
Sunday with patchy fog during the morning.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...Bruneau River in Owyhee County has already flooded,
and other main rivers were running high but below flood stage.
Rivers will crest Saturday then recede for at least several days
as colder and drier air comes in.  Twin Falls County and Jerome
County have had significant flooding due to rain and rapid
snowmelt, and areal flood warning will continue there today.
Additional rain today will not help the situation, but colder
drier weather will come in tonight through the weekend and that
should help.  In the mountains, snow level will lower to the
valley floors tonight through Sunday, greatly reducing
snowmelt and runoff.

&&

.BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
OR...None.

&&

www.weather.gov/Boise
www.facebook.com/NWSBoise
www.twitter.com/NWSBoise

SHORT TERM....LC
LONG TERM.....KA
AVIATION......KA
HYDROLOGY.....LC

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Malheur

When
February 10, 5:00 AM MST to 6:00 PM MST
Where
Malheur County, Juntura to 5.7 mi WNW of Vale
Cause
Ice Jam
Reported by
County Official
Coordinates
43.750, -118.080

Ice jams on the Malheur River caused flooding along U.S. Highway 20 from Juntura to Vale.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, February 2017

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: 690711.