Winter Storm — South Central Highlands, Idaho

2017-01-07 to 2017-01-11 · South Central Highlands, Idaho

Event narrative

A strong Pacific storm brought extremely heavy four day snow totals to the South Central Highlands. Amounts at SNOTEL sites were: 22 inches at Bostetter Ranger Station, 41 inches at Howell Canyon, and 41 inches at Oxford Springs.

Wider weather episode

A long dawn out atmospheric river event brought a variety of impacts to southeast Idaho including extremely heavy mountain snow, valley snow then rain on snow leading to flooding and roads covered with ice in the Snake River Plain, and many mountain avalanches. Many roads were closed for extended periods due to the heavy snow and avalanches. Custer County was declared a disaster area due to the prodigious snow amounts. An emergency declaration was signed in Cassia County due to the flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 676947. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.