Idaho, 2020

Cold in Idaho, October 23, 2020

October 23, 2020 · NWS PIH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

On the morning of October 23rd, the city of Pocatello experienced record cold morning|for the date. Officially, there was a record low of 16 degrees at the office and airport.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

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The toll

Deaths
1
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 PIH wrote it up.

On the morning of October 23rd, the city of Pocatello experienced record cold morning|for the date. Officially, there was a record low of 16 degrees at the office and airport. In town (and the part of Pocatello), temperatures dropped to between 20-25 degrees. Police responded around 9am to a report of a dead person. The coroner ruled preliminarily that the man likely died from exposure.

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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 22, 1:06 PM MST, 11 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 1:06 PM MST, 11 hours 54 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Lower Snake River Plain

When
October 23, 1:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Lower Snake River Plain forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
42.860, -112.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

On the morning of October 23rd, the city of Pocatello experienced record cold morning|for the date. Officially, there was a record low of 16 degrees at the office and airport. In town (and the part of Pocatello), temperatures dropped to between 20-25 degrees. Police responded around 9am to a report of a dead person. The coroner ruled preliminarily that the man likely died from exposure. The occurred at Simplot Square at the intersection of W Center and S Arthur.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Cold/Wind Chill, Lower Snake River Plain2020-10-23MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill
Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, October 2020

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: 925737.