The first in a series of major snow storms to hit Eastern Oregon and Southwest Idaho spread 4 to 16 inches of snow across the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 BOI wrote it up.
The first in a series of major snow storms to hit Eastern Oregon and Southwest Idaho spread 4 to 16 inches of snow across the area.
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 Jan 3, 3:04 PM MST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Boise ID
304 PM MST Tue Jan 3 2017
.SHORT TERM...Tonight through Thursday...Satellite is demonstrating
a surge of moisture moving over northern California this afternoon,
making its way towards the forecast area. Snowfall continued across
portions of eastern Oregon through the morning, with the next round
of snowfall anticipated to begin late this afternoon. Low pressure
advancing towards the CA/OR border is still anticipated to push a
wide, vigorous swath of moisture over the area through Wednesday
evening. Light to moderate snowfall is anticipated, with eastern
Oregon and into southwestern Idaho expected to see the more
significant snowfall accumulation. Snowfall will reach into southern
Idaho by the evening hours, with activity spreading into the valleys
during the overnight hours. Continuing snowfall on Wednesday will be
combined with gusty wind, especially across northern Harney county
and Jerome county. Blowing and drifting snow may result. With
significant snowfall expected to fall over the Treasure and Magic
Valleys to create hazardous travel conditions, the decision was
reached to upgrade the valleys to Warnings from their original
Advisories. These Winter Storm Warnings will remain in effect for
much of the area through Wednesday evening, with additional
details regarding magnitude and timing found in their products.
Snowfall with this event will taper off Thursday morning under a
building dry, northerly flow. Cloud cover will also reduce promoting
beginning of a cold period. This potential plunge in temperatures
may encourage the development of ice with current snowfall,
potentially resulting in hazardous travel conditions on Thursday.
.LONG TERM...Thursday night through Tuesday...Decreasing clouds
Thursday night as an upper level trough sinks south of the forecast
area. Temperatures Friday morning will be the coldest of the period
with low temperatures 15-25 degrees below normal. Conditions will be
dry and cold through Saturday morning as a weak ridge of high
pressure moves over the Pacific Northwest. The axis of the ridge
will shift east over the region Saturday with southwesterly flow
developing over the forecast area by Saturday afternoon. The
southwesterly flow is due to a developing upper level trough over
British Columbia with an upper level low in the base off the
trough off the British Columbia coast. The southwesterly flow will
tap into a substantial amount of subtropical moisture that is
forecasted to move towards California and the Pacific Northwest.
Precipitation will spread over the forecast area Saturday afternoon
with the best chance of precipitation on Sunday. The upper level
pattern will not shift much, but the upper level low will continue
to strengthen and models indicate that a weak weather system will
rotate around the low. With this weather scenario, will continue to
see precipitation over the forecast area Sunday night through
Tuesday. Main forecast challenge for the weather system on Sunday
will be how quickly will the cold air trapped in the valleys get
scoured out. Depending on how quickly valleys warm up will depend on
if valley location will have snow, rain or a possibility of freezing
rain. Models have not been doing well with the forecast this far in
advance so confidence in the forecast is low and may change with
later model runs. A cold front with this weather pattern is still
forecasted to move over the area Monday night with snow levels
returning to valley floors.
&&
.AVIATION...Deteriorating conditions as snow spreads over the region.
Snow will become widespread after 06Z with widespread MVFR/IFR
conditions and areas of LIFR conditions in heavier snow bands.
Mountains will be obscured. Surface winds easterly 5-15 knots. Winds
aloft southwesterly 15-25 knots up through 10K feet MSL.
&&
.BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM to 11 PM MST Wednesday
IDZ012-014>016-029-030.
OR...Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM to 11 PM MST Wednesday ORZ064.
Winter Storm Warning from 8 PM MST /7 PM PST/ this evening to 11
PM MST /10 PM PST/ Wednesday ORZ061-063.
&&
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SHORT TERM...KB
LONG TERM....JA/JA
AVIATION.....JAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotters across Malheur County reported 4 to 10 inches of snow.
Trained spotters across Harney County reported 4 to 8 inches of snow and 16 inches near Andrews.
Trained spotters across parts of eastern Malheur County and in and around the Ontario area reported 4 to 8 inches of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, January 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: 678694, 678693, 678695.