Wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph were common across a large portion of southeast 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.
Wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph were common across a large portion of southeast 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 Dec 23, 10:53 PM MST, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 1053 PM MST Tue Dec 23 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Rain and mountain rain and snow move in by Wednesday afternoon, continuing through at least Christmas afternoon. - Lighter snow getting to lower elevations on Friday. - A break in rain and snow on Sunday for your holiday return trip. && .UPDATE... Issued at 833 PM MST Tue Dec 23 2025 Cancelled the advisories for the Wood River Foothills, Lost River Valleys, Challis/Pahsimeroi valleys, Beaverhead/Lemhi Highands, and the Centennial mountains/Island Park region. Though there is some snow in the forecast for these zones, most all the snow is above 7000 to 7500 feet. There is no snow forecast for Hailey, Arco, Challis, and Monida pass. Raynolds pass and Targhee pass have less than 0.5 inch of snow forecasted. There will be a lot of rain (1 to 2 inches for all zones but Challis), but again the snow levels are currently too high. If snow levels drop 500 to 1000 feet this will change. For Friday morning, there is snow forecast in all these areas with the next wave of moisture and much cooler temperatures expected. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... Issued at 101 PM MST Tue Dec 23 2025 A quiet night tonight with cloud cover only, but on the morning of Christmas Eve rain and snow start in the central Idaho mountains. This will spread from a narrow band there by the afternoon to every where in the forecast area. Moderate to heavy rainfall will occur below 6000ft elevation. For the southern tier of highlands, this will be nearly an all rain event with some occasional light snow on the ridges of the Bear River range. Hardest hit will be the Wood River and Big Lost basins. However, the heavy snow will likely stay above 7000ft elevation, with light snow lowering to near 6000ft elevation, so a Winter Storm Warning has been issued for elevations above 7000ft. This would include Galena Summit on the road between Stanley and Ketchum. Elsewhere in the central Idaho mountains, the heavy snow should stay above 7000ft or so, and the slightly lighter amounts merit Winter Weather Advisories. The lower elevations such as Challis and Arco have advisory thresholds of just 1 inch or more accumulation, which will be just about what they will reach in portions of the zones, but likely not Challis and Arco themselves. In the Upper Snake River highlands, the snow level should be quite high and limited to elevations above 7000ft, which leaves just a locations near the Continental Divide receiving the moderate snow. It should be noted that the rain-snow line will shift greatly during the event, and that forecast snowfall amounts could suddenly become much larger or smaller with just a 500 foot change in that rain-snow line elevation. The rain and mountain rain and snow continues Christmas night and Fri, but lesser accumulation rates. However, the snow level drops to 4500ft to 5500ft elevation on Friday afternoon from northwest to southeast, so snow may actually become a factor on more roads even with lighter precipitation. More Winter Weather Advisories may be needed to this Thu Night-Fri period. Much will depend on how cold the incoming air is. Temperatures continue mild, with lower elevations staying near records on Christmas Eve, then a couple degrees of cooling on Christmas, then temperatures in the 40s for most Snake River plain locations on Fri and 30s in the populated areas in the central Idaho mountains and eastern highlands. Wind will be moderate to strong in the Snake River plain and southern highlands starting Christmas Eve, but the Wind Advisory level type of wind is limited to a few ridges in the southern highlands. Wind subsides Christmas morning, but gets breezy in the afternoon. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 101 PM MST Tue Dec 23 2025 The timing on the various clusters is excellent, with the only differences on just where the open wave passes into the Great Plains. One cluster of solutions has the wave splitting and the colder windier northern portion moving through southern Canada; that's 21 percent of the solutions. The strong majority have the northern part moving through on Sat, likely bringing colder air and thus lower snow levels, though not as much moisture content will be available. All clusters by Sun have high pressure returning to the west coast. For Sun the forecast area stays on the northwesterly flow side of the high, so temperatures will reamain cool with it difficult to get really windy during the time period, unless at ridgetop level. This upper level ridge intensifies through next Tue, but the forecast area stays on the colder side of the ridge. So temperatures should warm but be slow to moderate as 2025 comes to a close. No precipitation expected with the strong postive height anomalies expected from Sun onwards. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 1044 PM MST Tue Dec 23 2025 The next round of precipitation will reach central Idaho by mid to late morning Wednesday, with onset of rain forecast at the terminals between 18z and 21z. Models continue to advertise MVFR to LIFR CIGs and VIS areawide Wednesday night into Thursday morning as organized precipitation works eastward. More specifically, IFR/LIFR CIGs at all terminals with the exception of MVFR at KBYI beginning around 03z Wednesday night. Given the consistency between model runs, have leaned into this but not quite as pessimistic as some of the guidance suggests. && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 3 AM to 5 PM MST Wednesday for IDZ056-057. Winter Weather Advisory from 5 AM Wednesday to 5 PM MST Thursday for IDZ069-071-072. Winter Storm Warning from 5 AM Wednesday to 5 PM MST Thursday for IDZ073-074. && UPDATE... SHORT TERM...Messick LONG TERM...Messick AVIATION...Cropp
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1230 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0930 AM Tstm Wnd Dmg 2 WSW Rupert 42.61N 113.70W
12/17/2025 Minidoka ID Broadcast Media
Trees down and 2 power poles snapped off
along ID-25 near Rupert. Power out across
the area. Time estimated based on nearby
reports and peak wind gust observations.
&&
KSmithPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1231 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0148 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Dmg 1 SW Paul 42.60N 113.79W
12/17/2025 Minidoka ID Public
2 large ponderosa pine trees uprooted.
&&
KSmithPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1251 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 AM Tstm Wnd Dmg 9 SW Shoshone 42.86N 114.56W
12/17/2025 Lincoln ID Public
Numerous trees and wires down across the
area.
&&
KSmithPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1253 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0933 AM Tstm Wnd Dmg 2 S Paul 42.58N 113.78W
12/17/2025 Minidoka ID Public
Power pole snapped off along 600 W. Photo
received via social media.
&&
KSmithPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
1257 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1145 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Dmg Shoshone 42.94N 114.41W
12/17/2025 Lincoln ID Public
Large evergreen tree uprooted in Shoshone.
Time estimated based on nearby reports and
peak observed wind gust observations.
&&
KSmithPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
100 AM MST Wed Dec 24 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0930 AM Tstm Wnd Dmg Rupert 42.62N 113.67W
12/17/2025 Minidoka ID Public
Multiple large trees snapped off across
Rupert, including a 2 to 3 foot diameter
tree down on a house. Several roads blocked.
Photos received via social media. Time
estimated based on radar and nearby reports.
&&
KSmithThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 63 mph gust was measured at Connor Summit and a 59 mph gust at Cotton Ridge.
A 70 mph wind gust was measured 3 miles west southwest of Pocatello and a 59 mph gust measured 2 miles south southeast of Pocatello. The Pocatello ASOS recorded a 60 mph gust.
A 61 mph wind gust was measured at Tom Cat Summit. A 59 mph gust was measured at East Butte. A 57 mph wind gust was measured at Big Southern Butte.
A 60 mph wind gust was measured at Jensen Pass.
The Canyon Creek mesonet site measured a 59 mph wind gust.
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: 1308259, 1308255, 1308262, 1308270, 1308271.