Winter Storm — Eastern Lemhi County, Idaho

2015-11-17 to 2015-11-18 · Eastern Lemhi County, Idaho

Event narrative

The Saddle Mountain RAWS at 7900 ft reported 4 inches of snow overnight, with the nearby Deer Mountain RAWS reporting wind gusts of 63 mph during the early morning hours, making for dangerous back-country conditions.

Wider weather episode

A strong jet aloft with a core wind speed of 170+ mph helped drive a fast moving cold front which brought high winds to many locations across the Northern Rockies. Snow above 5500 feet lead to winter storm conditions for high passes and backcountry users (hunting season still in progress). Lower atmosphere standardized wind anomalies ranged between +3 and +4 for this time of year, indicating a once-in-10-year wind event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 607332. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.