Flood — Jefferson, Idaho

2017-02-05 to 2017-02-28 · near Camas, Jefferson, Idaho

Event narrative

A significant warmup in February caused massive sheet flooding from snowfall accumulation from December and January. Extensive damage occurred to homes and especially road damage. The state declared Jefferson County a disaster area due to the magnitude of the damage. Road flooding occurred near Roberts on the 11th and 12th, but extreme flooding commenced after the 19th mainly west of Interstate 15. 600 North was closed from 2450 East to 2300 East. 400 North was closed from 2400 East to 1800 East. 2300 East was closed from County Line to 400 North. 2100 East was closed from County Line to 400 North. 2600 East was closed from 200 North to 400 North and 1800 East was closed from 400 North to 1200 North. Water on some roads reached levels that caused automobiles to float. Road crews described some roads similar to waterfalls.

Wider weather episode

A trend toward above normal temperatures in February after extreme snowfall amounts in both December and January led to extensive flooding issues during the entirety of the month. The brunt of the flooding occurred in Cassia, Minidoka, Jefferson, Lincoln and Bingham Counties but all counties did receive at least minor flooding. The floding began February 4th and continued to affect low lying areas until the end of the month and continued into March.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.0000, -112.2200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 682550. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.