Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Idaho
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Idaho, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Idaho.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 133
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- None recorded
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 23 to 24, 2022A 45 year old man was found dead near the WinCo grocery store on January 24th on the 1000 block of Yellowstone. Temperatures were in the teens and it is believed extended exposure to cold temperatures contributed to his death.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 26 to 31, 2023Extremely cold temperatures combined with high winds to cause dangerously cold wind chills from the 29th through the 31st. Several schools closed on the 30th and 31st due to the cold.
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Idaho, December 20 to 23, 2022An extremely strong Pacific cold front brought wind gusts in the 50 to 80 mph range with localized blizzard conditions in the mountains and then extremely cold wind chills followed behind an arctic cold frontal passage.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 20, 2025A strong Canadian cold front brought the coldest temperatures of the winter season to southeast Idaho. Several apparent temperature readings of -20 to -55 degrees were recorded after midnight through mid morning on the 20th.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, May 8 to 10, 2002An extremely cold spring airmass moved into southeast Idaho during the early morning hours of May 8th and very cold air remained entrenched through the morning of May 10th.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Idaho, February 22 to 23, 2022The passage of a Canadian cold front brought extremely cold wind chill temperatures overnight on the 22nd into the daytime on the 23rd. Henry's Lake recorded the coldest wind chill temperature at 46 below zero at 730 AM on the 23rd.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 4 to 5, 2017Strong northeast winds behind a cold front brought actual and wind chill temperatures to the -20 to -35 range overnight on the 4th and into the morning on the 5th. Most schools in southeast Idaho were closed on the 5th due to the extreme cold conditions.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, February 1 to 2, 2011Several school closings occurred in southeast Idaho due to the extremely cold conditions on both Feb 1st and 2nd. Widespread wind chill readings of -25 to -40 degrees occurred on the morning of the 1st.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, February 5 to 6, 2014An Arctic air mass spilled into the Inland Northwest between the 4th and 5th of February.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, December 9, 2013A large number of schools were shut down in southeast Idaho on December 9th due to wind chill readings in the 25 to 45 below zero range.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, November 1 to 30, 2022The entirety of November was extremely cold in southeast Idaho. The 5 official ASOS climatological sites all had top 10 coldest month with 4 of them in the top 5 of coldest Novembers ever.
- Extreme Cold and Strong Wind in Idaho, December 21 to 22, 2022A deep trough moved in from the northwest, bringing widespread extreme cold and gusty winds to the Magic Valley with a few inches of snow to the Snake River Valley.
- Extreme Cold and Winter Weather in Idaho, December 2 to 9, 2013An arctic cold front pushes west and south over the Clearwater Mountains towards the lower elevations of the Camas Prairie.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, February 6, 2014Several schools in southeastern Idaho were closed on February 6th due to extreme cold wind chill readings of 20 below zero or colder.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, June 2 to 5, 2001Extremely cold temperatures which occurred during the nights of June 2nd through the morning of June 5th brought a series of freezes to rural areas of southeastern Idaho. the freezes combined with drought conditions to damage a large portion of crop production.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, May 8 to 9, 2002A very cold airmass invaded Southwest Idaho on the heels of a late spring storm. The combination of clear skies and light winds allowed temperatures to plunge well below freezing in the agricultural valleys during the early morning hours of May 8th and the overnight hours of the…
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 11 to 13, 2007An arctic cold front pushed south through southeast Idaho on January 11th allowing bitterly cold temperatures along with strong northerly winds to take over.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, February 2, 2007An arctic cold front brought widespread -20 to -30 wind chill readings to parts of eastern Idaho.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 16, 2008Widespread wind chill readings colder than 25 below zero were recorded in the morning hours on the 16th.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, December 10, 2009Extreme cold temperatures caused several schools to close on December 10th in the Upper Snake Highlands and Caribou Highlands.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, December 30, 2010A very cold arctic air mass moved south out of Canada. Associated with the leading edge of the cold air were strong winds, producing bitterly cold wind chill temperatures.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, December 4 to 5, 2011Strong northerly winds combined with cold temperatures to creae widespread wind chill readings from 20 to 35 below zero in the Upper Snake River Highlands, Upper Snake River Plain and Caribou Highlands.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, December 6 to 7, 2013An arctic air mass spilled into the Inland Northwest between the 6th and 7th of December.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 3, 2013Wind chill readings were widespread 20 to 30 below zero across the Snake River Plain, Eastern Magic Valley and Caribou Highlands. Schools in West Jefferson, Grace, and North Gem all closed due to the extreme cold.
- Extreme Cold in Idaho, January 14, 2013Due to temperatures below 20 degrees below zero schools closed in Marsh Valley, Bear Lake, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, and West Jefferson on the 14th.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Idaho
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.