Winter Storm — Upper Snake Highlands, Idaho

2018-03-01 to 2018-03-04 · Upper Snake Highlands, Idaho

Event narrative

Extremely heavy snow and strong winds occurred in the Upper Snake Highlands for several days. Interstate 15 closed from Dubois to the Montana border on the 2nd. Idaho 32 closed from Ashton to Tetonia and Idaho 47 closed from mile marker 0 to 28. Heavy snow amounts reported by spotters and COOP observers were: 12 inches in Island Park, 13 inches Driggs, 10 inches Saint Anthony, 14 inches in Small, 13 inches 6 miles west of Kilgore, and 14 inches 4 miles north of Rea. SNOTEL amounts were 14 inches at Crab Creek and 16 inches at White Elephant.

Wider weather episode

An extremely powerful Pacific storm system spread into the central mountains on March 1st and overspread all of southeast Idaho on the 2nd and continued in the far east through the 4th. Many mountain locations received over 2 feet of snow and even low elevations received 6 to 12 inches from the storm. Many road closures were reported most notably interstate 15 from Dubois to the Montana border on the 2nd.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 747548. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.