On December 17, 2025, a historic high wind event driven by a strong cold front undercutting an atmospheric river brought hurricane-force winds to North Central Idaho. Saturated, extremely wet soils severely weakened root structures, which substantially exacerbated the toppling of countless trees and power poles.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 MSO wrote it up.
On December 17, 2025, a historic high wind event driven by a strong cold front undercutting an atmospheric river brought hurricane-force winds to North Central Idaho. Saturated, extremely wet soils severely weakened root structures, which substantially exacerbated the toppling of countless trees and power poles. The region experienced devastating wind gusts exceeding 70 mph.|The storm caused catastrophic damage to utility infrastructure, resulting in what Clearwater Power described as the most widespread outage and system damage the cooperative has ever experienced. The intense winds and falling timber damaged equipment, substations, and every single main distribution line across their expansive 5,000-square-mile electric system all at once. Fallen trees completely blocked roads and access points, while additional snow and wind following the initial event severely hampered repair progress. Outages persisted for over a week for some residents, with crews and mutual aid partners quadrupling the normal workforce to work through the Christmas holiday to fully restore power across the rugged landscape.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 17, 1:25 AM PST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
225 AM MST Wed Dec 17 2025
.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGES:
- Strong Cold Front today: An extreme cold front will sweep
across the region this morning. Expect a rapid transition from
rain to snow, and damaging winds with gusts of 40-60 mph in
valleys (higher in mountains).
- Snow Thursday and Friday: Following the front, cooler and
unsettled weather will prevail for the remainder of the week,
with snow levels dropping to valley floors at times and periods
of mountain snow affecting travel.
- Mountain snow Saturday
Satellite imagery early this morning is showing a low pressure
circulation moving into central British Columbia. This circulation
is pushing a strong cold front from west to east south of the low
pressure center. The front will strengthen as it moves through
the Pacific Northwest and arrives in the Northern Rockies this
morning. The primary impact from this feature, well-advertised
over the last several days, will be strong, damaging winds. Timing
for arrival will be about 5am PST in Idaho and Clearwater
counties, moving east to western Montana by about 7am MST, and
becoming widespread throughout the Northern Rockies including
southwest Montana and Lemhi County by about 9am MST. Southerly
winds early in the event will turn westerly with the frontal
passage. Westerly gusts of 50 mph will be widespread. High
resolution ensemble models indicate a 50 to 90 percent chance for
gusts of this magnitude across most valleys in the Northern
Rockies. In the higher terrain such as the Continental Divide and
the Bitterroot crest, there will be about a 50 percent chance of
exceeding 70 mph. A secondary threat today will be the transition
from rain to snow behind the front. Snow accumulation will favor
northwest Montana, especially eastern Flathead County. Marias Pass
will see about 6 to 12 inches of snow by tonight. A Winter Storm
Warning is in effect for the Glacier Park region due to the
combination of high winds and snow, while the remainder of the
Northern Rockies will be under a High Wind Warning through today.
Moving on past today, enough cold air holds on through Thursday
for snow accumulation in the higher terrain by Friday morning.
Moisture is still supplied from the Pacific Ocean by an upper
level jet positioned over the Northern Rockies. Cool temperatures
will keep snow levels low enough for valley snow through Thursday,
while forcing for ascent will come from the terrain with the
exception of some weak overrunning of Pacific moisture over
residual cold air in the valleys. Accumulations over mountain
passes such as Lolo, Lookout, Marias, and Lost Trail will be in
the 5 to 10 inch range. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for the
Clearwater, Bitterroot, and Sapphire ranges for Thursday and
Friday.
Snow levels rise again on Friday afternoon, then come back down to
valley floors for Saturday. The mountains hang onto snow into
Saturday as the Clearwaters and Bitterroots are favored for
another several inches of snow by Saturday morning. The next
period of interest for precipitation will be Sunday into Monday,
though model agreement is still uncertain.
&&
.AVIATION... Wind will be the primary impact to aviation over the
next 24 hours. A potent cold front is approaching the Northern
Rockies from the west. Southerly winds early will turn westerly
behind the front, arriving in north-central Idaho by about
17/1300Z and western Montana by about 17/1400Z. Expect gusts of 40
to 50 knots near the ground, 60 knots over the terrain. Low-level
windshear will also develop early this morning and persist
throughout today. Snow will obscure terrain, while rain will turn
to snow by about midday at all terminals. Precipitation,
including blowing snow, will produce reductions in visibility.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Winter Storm Watch from late tonight through late Friday night
for Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains.
High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST this afternoon for
Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains...Flathead/Mission Valleys...
Kootenai/Cabinet Region...Lower Clark Fork Region...
Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys.
Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM MST this evening for West
Glacier Region.
High Wind Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for
Butte/Blackfoot Region...Potomac/Seeley Lake Region.
ID...High Wind Warning until 2 PM MST /1 PM PST/ this afternoon for
Eastern Lemhi County...Lower Hells Canyon/Salmon River
Region...Northern Clearwater Mountains...
Orofino/Grangeville Region...Southern Clearwater
Mountains...Western Lemhi County.
Winter Storm Watch from late tonight through late Friday night
for Southern Clearwater Mountains.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Power outages were reported across the region due to strong winds.
A falling tree struck a semi-truck at milepost 96 on US-12, just one mile west of Lowell. In an accident near Elk City, a truck was struck by mud and trees sliding down a hillside, while a motorist on SH-13 had a tree fall through their vehicle windshield. Blockages including multiple downed trees, rocks and landslides were reported along State Highway 14.
Utility infrastructure was devastated, leading to massive and prolonged power outages. By 0637PST on December 17, over 27 percent of tracked customers in Idaho County (1,638 meters) had lost power. To address the widespread outages, Avista deployed more than 45 line crews, 36 contract crews, and 30 vegetation management crews, supported by hundreds of additional employees. Through this massive response, 86 percent of Avista accounts across the region were restored by December 18. Restoration efforts for remote locations like Elk City and Dixie, as well as the Cove area east of Grangeville, safely extended into subsequent days.
Property and infrastructure damage extended deep into the backcountry. At Red River Hot Springs, multiple trees were reported down. Public lands agencies reported significant storm-related damage to facilities. The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests noted catastrophic damage at the Fish Creek Recreation Area outside Grangeville, where multiple trees crushed the pit toilet building, pavilion, and parking lot.
An Idaho Transportation Department weather station at Concrete Section recorded a peak gust of 75 mph at 0700PST and multiple instances of sustained winds between 40 and 44 mph between 0600 and 0815PST. The top of Greer Grade measured a 73 mph gust between 0600PST and 0615PST. The Idaho County Sheriff's Office reported that most county roads were blocked or partially blocked by downed trees. Travel was highly discouraged, and official travel not recommended advisories were issued by 1100PST. Emergency responders dealt with multiple highway blockages, including State Highway 13 which was completely shut down between mileposts 6 and 11 due to power lines lying across the roadway, as well as large rocks and trees, and the stretch between Orofino and Peck was described as horrible with trees down everywhere.
In Cottonwood, police reported extreme damage including missing roofs and doors blown completely off a Primeland grain elevator. Downed trees crushed a parked car on 3rd Street, and blocked both King and Myrtle streets, and another massive tree crashed through the roof of a house just moments after a child had left their bed. Near Orofino, a large tree branch pierced the roof of a trailer home in Hidden Village, displacing the residents who were subsequently assisted by the Red Cross. In Grangeville, shingles were blown off roofs, and between Fenn and Tolo Lake, the wind lifted a 40x60 foot open alley barn, moving it 6 to 8 feet off its foundation.
Nearly 4,000 customers lost power in the Idaho County area alone, with regional afternoon totals exceeding 4,600 without power. Broken phone poles, large branches in power lines, and widespread infrastructure damage led to prolonged, multi-day outages, with over 1,000 Clearwater Power customers still without electricity by the evening of December 19. Due to the severe hazards and power loss, numerous regional school districts were forced to cancel classes, including Grangeville, Kamiah, Cottonwood, Orofino (SD 171), and several private academies.
The Dent RAWS, located at 1,700 feet, reported wind gusts up to 55 mph between 0508PST and 0608PST, and 57 mph between 0608PST and 0708PST. Fallen trees completely blocked roads and access points throughout the county. Widespread tree damage was noted across central and eastern Clearwater County, including North Fork Road, which was completely blocked by fallen timber between Quartz Creek and Washington Creek. |The storm caused severe, localized utility impacts. At 0710PST on December 17, 2,613 out of 5,960 tracked customers (nearly 44 percent) were without power in Clearwater County. Across Clearwater Power's broader network, power was eventually restored to over 10,750 members, but at least 250 members remained without power through the Christmas holiday.
The Skull Gulch RAWS at 5,878 feet recorded gusts between 60 and 73 mph between 0851MST and 1051MST. Utility companies reported power outages due to trees down across southeastern Idaho.
Lemhi County County dispatch reported at least 3 trees were down. There were multiple weather stations that reported wind gusts above 70 mph for multiple hours. The Idaho Power station on Sandy Creek Road recorded a sustained wind speed of 48 mph with a peak gust of 76 mph at 0900MST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, December 2025
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: 1307696, 1307680, 1307692, 1307243, 1307704, 1307707.