Snow and strong winds again caused many roads to shut down in eastern Idaho including US Route 26, as well as Idaho State Highways 32, 33, and 34. Winds gusted from 40 to 50 mph for the 3rd time in a week across extreme eastern Idaho.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Snow and strong winds again caused many roads to shut down in eastern Idaho including US Route 26, as well as Idaho State Highways 32, 33, and 34. Winds gusted from 40 to 50 mph for the 3rd time in a week across extreme eastern Idaho.
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 6, 4:21 AM MST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 421 AM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 .SHORT TERM...Today through Monday. Strong northwest flow will remain through the period, especially today and Sunday. Snow has currently backed off across the Eastern Highlands but another wave this afternoon in northwest flow will start to bring snow for the Sawtooths and, in particular, the Eastern Highlands where 5 to 10 inches of higher elevation snow is likely. A winter weather advisory is in effect for the Wasatch mountains, Caribou Highlands, and the Big Hole mountains for moderate snow and blowing snow. Winds will be a factor/impact for our entire area. Winds aloft will be around 50 to 55 mph. The best areas to mix down and see gusts of 50 mph are the Snake River Plain and Eastern Magic Valley, especially the I-84 corridor where a wind advisory is in effect. Other areas will see gusts of 30 to 40 mph. An Special Weather Statement will be issued where winds, existing snow, and light falling snow will have the biggest impacts. These will be mainly along the Utah Border and Wyoming border. The biggest concerns for wind and blowing snow will be Yale, Sweetzer Summit, Malad Summit, Georgetown Summit, Highway 33 from Rexburg to Tetonia, and the Eastern portion of the Island Park area. Thus, Special Weather Statements have been issued for these areas. Sunday northwest flow will continue but only lingering very light snow is expected mainly over the Island Park area. Winds will still be breezy to moderate but should have much less impacts. By Monday the winds will still be breezy but will be even lighter. Little, if any, snow is expected by Monday. Temperatures will be above normal today and Sunday mainly across our Southwest areas where the wind will be the strongest. By Monday expect below normal temperatures, especially in our northeast areas where cold air is expected to work its way over the Montana Divide. Wyatt .LONG TERM...Tuesday through next Saturday. The general consensus is that we will see an increasing chance of precipitation and increasing winds. The questions remaining are: how and wet and how cold. The GFS wants to swing a storm through later Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a fairly dry but cold pattern. The 12z ECMWF was wetter and colder, but now the ECMWF is trending warmer and even more wet. There has been poor consistency and trends with the pattern toward the middle and end of next week. The Blend of Models is doing what it should be doing, showing a potential forecast of all the models and the ensembles. That shows an increasing chance of precipitation but much colder. With the huge lack of certainty, we will go with the Blend of Models. Keyes && .AVIATION...We will see the next surge of moisture arriving later today. The bulk of this (mainly in the form of snow) will fall across the central mountains and eastern highlands. With northwest flow, the snow SHOULD stay to the northwest of SUN. This certainly favors DIJ, although we will need to watch conditions with a south to southwest wind. The most likely scenario is MVFR weather, dipping into IFR with heavier bursts of snow. At IDA and PIH, upslope flow may produce light snow over the airports...but the most likely scenario is the snow falls in the benches or even farther into the mountains away from both sites. At BYI, we are not expecting any issues other than gusty winds again today. In fact at BYI, PIH and IDA...the biggest issue should be the winds with gusts of 25-35kts expected. Keyes && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 9 PM MST this evening for IDZ054-055. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 9 PM MST this evening for IDZ060-063-064. &&
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Pocatello ID 516 AM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 IDZ051>053-056>059-061-062-065-066-062100- Shoshone/Lava Beds-Arco/Mud Lake Desert-Upper Snake River Plain- Southern Hills/Albion Mountains-Raft River Region- Marsh and Arbon Highlands-Franklin/Eastern Oneida Region- Bear Lake Valley-Blackfoot Mountains-Teton Valley- Centennial Mountains - Island Park- Including the cities of Shoshone, Richfield, Carey, Mud Lake, INL, Craters of the Moon NM, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, St. Anthony, Albion, Almo, Malta, Rockland, Holbrook, Inkom, McCammon, Downey, Lava Hot Springs, Malad, Preston, Thatcher, St. Charles, Montpelier, Georgetown, Grace, Soda Springs, Henry, Bone, Ashton, Tetonia, Driggs, Island Park, and Kilgore 516 AM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 Expect moderate winds today with overall gusts near 30 to 40 mph. Some areas wills see localized higher impacts/gusts like Highway 33 from Rexburg to Tetonia for blowing and drifting snow and strong crosswinds with gusts near 50 to 55 mph near Yale on I-84. These highways/interstates could potentially close. Otherwise, all these areas will see blowing and drifting snow mainly where there is existing snow. Areas along the Wyoming Border could see 2 to 5 inches of new snow, especially east of Island Park and Driggs. Malad Summit, Georgetown Summit, Geneva Summit, and Border Summit will see 1 to 3 inches of snow. Again, the bigger impact will likely be blowing and drifting snow from moderate winds. Winds won't start going down significantly until around 8 to 9 pm, potentially later for some localized areas. Please use caution in areas of strong cross winds and blowing and drifting snow. Visibility will likely decrease and roads could become hazardous.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused extensive blowing of the snow that fell the two previous days. The drifting of snow was so bad it closed Idaho State Highway 34 from near Soda Springs east to the Wyoming border.
Idaho State Highway 34 was closed from Soda Springs to the Idaho border due to 40 to 50 mph winds blowing recent snows and causing whiteout conditions on the 6th.
US Highway 26 closed from Ririe to Swan Valley on February 6th. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused whiteouts blowing recently falling snow and road crews were unable to keep up with the drifting. Idaho State Highway 33 was also closed from Newdale to Tetonia.
US Highway 26 closed from Ririe to Swan Valley on February 6th. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused whiteouts blowing recently falling snow and road crews were unable to keep up with the drifting.
Idaho State Highway 33 was closed from Newdale to Tetonia and Idaho State Highway 32 was closed from Ashton to Tetonia. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph caused whiteout conditions and extensive drifting that snow removal crews were unable to keep up with.
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, February 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: 944911, 944916, 944925, 944929, 944935.