A snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in the Sheep Falls area east of Palisades Rerervoir.
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 snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in the Sheep Falls area east of Palisades Rerervoir.
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 20, 1:31 PM MST, 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 131 PM MST Tue Feb 20 2018 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Fri afternoon. After a brief break from a snow event due to an area of convergence, another trough will begin its approach from the northwest tonight, arriving over the forecast area by Wed afternoon. This is a very weak trough, with little surface development, so no repeat of last weekend's storm. Some light snow should develop mainly for the mountains and highlands. One to six inches are expected for Wed/Wed Night in the central Idaho mountains, with amounts above 3 inches expected above 7500ft elevation. Lesser amounts, 1 to 3 inches, are expected at the highest elevations along the border with Montana, and very little expected south of Palisades Reservoir. A deeper trough develops during the day over the Pacific northwest, digging southward and into Nevada allowing the forecast area to get caught on the north side of the low. This will mean more snow, 1 to 3 inches in the Snake River plain/eastern Magic Valley. Elevations above 7500ft to 8000ft could also receive Advisory-level snowfall on Thu/Thu night/Fri. Temperatures will continue cold for another two nights, but with the Thu night storm there is a shift from cold northerly flow to more westerly and even southwest flow. This will warm things up, although still staying below climatic normals. After the breezy conditions today, expect wind to decrease and stay somewhat light until the Thu storm exits Fri afternoon. Messick .LONG TERM...Saturday through next Tuesday. Or next weather maker arrives later Saturday into Sunday. The models are showing some subtle differences of opinion, enough to be off on timing that by about 12 hours. If the faster version (the GFS) pans out, it could end up being a rain/snow mix across the Snake Plain with some decent snow in the high country. If the EC ends up right, it would be snow and persist longer along I-84 & 86 Saturday night. The GFS is pushing it out already Sunday morning, while the EC isn't done until afternoon. There will be wind with this one, so expect some more blowing and drifting snow especially on some of the passes and in the backcountry. After that, it looks yet another storm drops in over the west. That means more needed precipitation and cool temperatures. Keyes && .AVIATION...The main forecast question for pilots is there going to be any snow around and how much stratus will there be especially tonight and Wednesday morning. The more widespread threat of light snow is winding down. It does look like though there might be a risk of persistent showers in nearby terrain for VCSH at KDIJ tonight. We also have lower ceilings (IFR). The rest of the TAF sites should see scattered to broken ceilings between 2000-5000ft or fairly close to that. Whether or not there is enough coverage to actually go to MVFR/IFR is a remaining question. We don't indicate that but it's certainly possible. We are NOT expecting fog since the air is drying out and not much melting is expected due to cold temperatures and lack of better sunshine. We should not see any showers across the Snake Plain tomorrow but a repeat of showers over the mountains will keep VCSH for KDIJ and a return to that in the afternoon at KSUN. The wind will also drop off quite a bit in the next 24 hours so any risk of blowing snow will also disappear. Keyes && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
850 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0635 AM SNOW 1 N CHUBBUCK 42.94N 112.46W
02/20/2018 M4.2 INCH BANNOCK ID NWS EMPLOYEE
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL MEASURED SINCE 830 PM MONDAY EVENING
NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF YELLOWSTONE AVE AND W SIPHON RD.
ALSO A 24 HOUR TOTAL. 3.0 INCHES OF THIS ACCUMULATION
FELL BETWEEN 830 PM AND 1000 PM MONDAY EVENING WITH HEAVY
SNOW AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS DURING THAT PERIOD.
ROADS REMAIN SNOW COVERED AND SLIPPERY THIS MORNING.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
852 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1215 AM SNOW 3 NE POCATELLO 42.91N 112.43W
02/20/2018 M5.0 INCH BANNOCK ID PUBLIC
REPORTED IN THE HIGHLAND AREA. SNOW WAS STILL FALLING AT
THIS TIME OF THIS REPORT.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
855 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0611 AM SNOW CHUBBUCK 42.92N 112.46W
02/20/2018 M5.0 INCH BANNOCK ID PUBLIC
STORM TOTAL SINCE SNOW BEGAN MONDAY EVENING. ALSO A 24
HOUR TOTAL.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
856 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0754 AM SNOW 2 E CHUBBUCK 42.92N 112.43W
02/20/2018 M5.5 INCH BANNOCK ID NWS EMPLOYEE
STORM TOTAL SINCE SNOW BEGAN MONDAY EVENING. ALSO A 24
HOUR TOTAL. MEASURED ON GARY ST.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
858 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0730 AM SNOW FORT HALL 43.01N 112.45W
02/20/2018 E3.5 INCH BANNOCK ID DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRANSPORTATION REPORTS AN ESTIMATED
STORM TOTAL OF 3-4 INCHES IN THE FORT HALL AREA. SHARED
VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
902 AM MST TUE FEB 20 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 AM SNOW POCATELLO ARPT 42.92N 112.60W
02/20/2018 M3.5 INCH POWER ID OFFICIAL NWS OBS
STORM TOTAL MEASURED AT 3.5 INCHES AT THE NWS POCATELLO
OFFICE AT POCATELLO REGIONAL AIRPORT SINCE 6 PM MONDAY.
3.3 INCHES OF THIS ACCUMULATION FELL OVER SEVERAL HOURS
MONDAY EVENING. ROADS REMAIN SNOW COVERED AND SLIPPERY
THIS MORNING WITH SOME BLOWING SNOW OBSERVED.
&&
KSMITH1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
A snowmobiler was killed in an avalanche in the Sheep Falls area east of Palisades Rerervoir.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Caribou Highlands | 2018-02-20 | 47 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, February 2018
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: 742240.