Avalanche — Big and Little Wood River Region, Idaho

2017-01-09 · Big and Little Wood River Region, Idaho

Event narrative

Ten avalanches affected Warm Springs Road west of Ketchum closing it on the 9th. Sage Road and Huffman Drive off of Warm Springs road also were closed except to residences.

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 677038. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.