Winter Storm — Caribou Highlands, Idaho

2017-01-07 to 2017-01-11 · Caribou Highlands, Idaho

Event narrative

A very strong and wet Pacific storm brought very heavy snow to high elevations of the Caribou Highlands. Valley amounts recorded by COOP observer in Downey were 9.5 inches. SNOTEL sties recorded the following: Pine Creek Pass 21 inches, Sedgwick Peak 63 inches, Somsen Ranch 26 inches, Sheep Mountain 25 inches, and Wildhorse Divide 25 inches.

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 676949. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.