Bands of heavy snow brought visibility to less than 1/4 mile on several roadways in southeastern Idaho during the morning and afternoon of December 26th.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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 PIH wrote it up.
Bands of heavy snow brought visibility to less than 1/4 mile on several roadways in southeastern Idaho during the morning and afternoon of December 26th.
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 Dec 25, 2:51 PM MST, 12 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 251 PM MST Sat Dec 25 2021 .UPDATE...We decided to add the Arco Desert, and Lemhi highlands to the ADVISORY through tomorrow afternoon. Snowfall will end earlier, but concern is there for blowing/drifting well after that as winds continue to ramp up. Keyes && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 132 PM MST Sat Dec 25 2021/ SHORT TERM...Tonight through Monday. We continue to watch for several waves of snow to impact central and eastern Idaho until the low swings east and clears us out, which won't happen to Tuesday morning. So far this afternoon, we are watching snow continuing to fall across portions of the central mountains, Snake Plain and eastern highlands. This band, which seems to be along a warm front, will lift north into this evening, with focus from Island Park across the Montana Divide into the central mountains...including upslope areas from Lone Pine down through the Shoshone Lava Beds. South of that, some clearing has developed and will continue. This will allow for some gusty winds to ramp up. The concern there is blowing/drifting even in areas where snow has ended for the time being or let up. Temperatures where it has cleared aren't warming up a ton, just barely pushing freezing. For overnight and tomorrow morning, a cold front sweeps east. This will push the more widespread and heavier snow out of the central mountains, and move it into the southern and eastern highlands...as well as the Snake Plain along and east of I-15 around 5am. Gusty winds will continue and actually ramp up some more, keeping the risk of blowing/drifting going, even where snow has ended. There are plenty of indications that a band of heavy snow is possible along the front, which may overcome any downslope conditions across the southern end of the Snake Plain and Teton Valley. By afternoon, expect a more concentrated area of snow across the Sawtooths and Wood River Valley...along with another area over the southeast highlands. Elsewhere look for pockets of snow to develop. Winds will remain pretty strong tomorrow, so you guessed it...blowing and drifting remains a risk. The WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY remains in place through 5am tomorrow. We extended the ADVISORY for the Shoshone Lava Beds out through that time as well. We extended the ADVISORY for all of the Snake Plain, Burley area and southern highlands to 5pm. The ADVISORY and WARNING for the eastern and southeast highlands remain in effect until 5pm. Bands of snow will continue into Monday ahead of the low. Most valley locations should see anywhere from an additional trace to 3 inches. Most of our higher elevations will see another 2 to 6 inches, with locally higher amounts. Winds will remain gusty, but lower than yesterday. We will probably end up extending headlines out again for some areas into Monday, depending on how the forecast trends in the next 24 hours or so. Temperatures will be at or below freezing Monday, and you better had enjoy them...because our friends to the north will be sharing some much colder weather with us to end 2021. Keyes LONG TERM...Monday night through next Saturday. Monday night shows increasing confidence for an upper level trough to deepen and intensify across southeast Idaho bringing with it additional snowfall, breezy winds, and much colder temperatures on the backside. Additional snow accumulations Monday night looks to be mostly confined further south and east, with about a T-4 inches expected with highest totals confined to the Bear River Range into Tuesday. Slightly clearing skies are expected in our northern and eastern portions of the CWA, which will lead to conditions rapidly cooling into the teens below zero in the Central Mountains and Eastern Highlands. Low temperatures Tuesday morning are limited further south due to increased cloud cover lingering behind this trough, but we are still looking at temperatures in the single digits to below zero everywhere else. Tuesdays high temperatures will struggle to work back into the positive single digits and teens, with the warmest temperatures in the low 20s out towards the Eastern Magic Valley. Much of the same is expected again for Tuesday night minus the precipitation impacts, with Wednesday morning looking like the coldest morning of the season thus far. Widespread conditions below zero are expected, with the warmest locations in the positive single digits. A look at the overall weather pattern through the remainder of the period looks fairly quiet Tuesday through Thursday morning as more of a zonal upper level flow component keeps us mostly dry and temperatures slightly warming throughout the week. Cannot rule out a few upslope snow showers as a closed upper level low works down the Pacific Coast, however accumulations look to stay fairly light across the highest terrain. Long range deterministic models are in agreement for our next winter system moving in around that late Thursday early Friday timeframe as a widespread snow event, with temperatures beginning more of a cooling trend into next weekend. MacKay AVIATION...After enhanced precipitation this morning across all terminals, continued impacts exist at SUN and DIJ as upslope snow showers are continue through tomorrow. SUN will see the most significant impacts with light to moderate snow expected to continue through tonight only to be enhanced by a cold frontal passage tomorrow, keeping them in the VLIFR/IFR CIGS/VIS territory into Sunday. Winds will continue to trend higher this evening and overnight as a cold front pushes through the region, bringing widespread snowfall and gusty winds across nearly all terminals. SUN and DIJ will be slightly sheltered due to their surrounding topography and wind direction, but could still see gusts up to 15-25kts. PIH, IDA, and BYI will also see winds trend higher overnight and into tomorrow with maximum SW gusts around 25-45kts. Widespread precipitation is likely to arrive after sunset and overspread west to east, helping to amplify snow showers at SUN and DIJ which will continue to see impacts up to and including this time frame. IFR CIGS/VIS are expected as heavier snow bands continue to work through the region, with isolated VLIFR conditions. Blowing snow also looks to be an issue with fresh snow already fallen and more snow on the way, which will reduce visibility and increase terminal impacts. MacKay && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM MST Sunday for IDZ052>059- 061>067. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Sunday for IDZ051-071>075. Winter Storm Warning until 5 PM MST Sunday for IDZ060. &&
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1042 PM MST SAT DEC 25 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1030 PM SNOW BELLEVUE 43.47N 114.26W
12/25/2021 M5.0 INCH BLAINE ID CO-OP OBSERVER
5 IN. 24 HR. TOTAL. 19 IN. TOTAL SNOW DEPTH.
SNOW RATES BRIEFLY GREATER THAN 1 IN. PER
HR. 3 PM - 5 PM.
&&
ECPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1254 AM MST SUN DEC 26 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0940 PM SNOW HAILEY 43.51N 114.30W
12/25/2021 M5.5 INCH BLAINE ID PARK/FOREST SRVC
USFS SAWTOOTH AVALANCHE CENTER EMPLOYEE
REPORTS A MEASURED 5.5 INCHES OF NEW SNOW
BETWEEN 430 PM AND 940 PM. HEAVY SNOW
CURRENTLY FALLING.
&&
KSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
1257 AM MST SUN DEC 26 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1215 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 SW KETCHUM 43.66N 114.40W
12/26/2021 M52 MPH BLAINE ID MESONET
MESONET STATION SVB - BALD MOUNTAIN.
&&
KSMITHThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow Squall. Visibility 1/4 mile from 345 AM to 400 AM with moderate to heavy snow observed and wind gusts of 24 to 38 mph. Burley Municipal Airport.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/4 mile from 400 AM to 500 AM with moderate to heavy snow observed and wind gusts of 25 to 38 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITD88. I-86 Raft River.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/4 mile from 400 AM to 515 AM with moderate to heavy snow observed and wind gusts of 42 to 50 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITD12. I-84 Yale Interchange.
Snow Squall. Visibility at of below 1/4 mile from 1144 AM to 1225 PM with moderate snow and blowing observed and wind gusts of 28 to 53 mph. Pocatello Regional Airport.
Snow Squall. Public report of whiteout conditions with visibility less than one car length on US 91 in Fort Hall. Wind gusts of 35 mph were measured nearby the site of the white our.
Snow Squall. Heavy snow with visibility of a few hundred feet in Montpelier verified by submitted photo. Wind gust of 31 mph at nearby Bear Lake Airport.
Snow Squall. KIFI television 8 posted video of visibility near zero on interstate 15 near Blackfoot. Measured wind gusts of 25 to 40 mph nearby the site.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/4 mile from 1245 PM to 115 PM with moderate snow observed and wind gusts of 26 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITDB6 Bloomington Along US Highway 89.
Snow Squall. Public reported near whiteout conditions along interstate 15 over Malad Summit. Nearby ITD weather station reported wind gust of 30 mph.
Snow Squall. Visibility of 1/4 mile from 105 PM to 114 PM with moderate to heavy snow and blowing snow observed and winds gusting to 33 mph. Idaho Falls Regional Airport.
Snow Squall. Visibility of 1/4 mile. Wind gusts of 20 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITD25 along interstate 15.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/5 mile with moderate snow observed and wind gusts of 34 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITD35 US Highway 30 at Border Summit.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/5 mile from moderate snow observed and wind gusts of 37 to 41 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITDC3. Gem Valley along US Highway 30.
Snow Squall. PUblic reported heavy snow and strong winds in Soda Springs. Visibility at 8 feet with photos confirming whiteout conditions.
Snow Squall. Visibility below 1/5 mile with moderate snow observed and a wind gust of 54 mph. ITD RWIS Station ITD91 US Highway 26 Antelope Flats.
Snow Squall. Visibility 1/4 mile from 220 PM to 227 PM with heavy snow observed and | a wind gust of 37mph. Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2021
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: 999696, 999698, 999702, 999711, 999712, 999714, 999715, 999716, 999717, 999718, 999719, 999720, 999721, 999722, 999723, 999724.