Winter Storm — Big Lost Highlands-copper Basin, Idaho

2019-02-23 to 2019-02-28 · Big Lost Highlands-copper Basin, Idaho

Event narrative

An extended atmospheric river event the last week of February led to some incredibly high snow totals. Amounts for the week occurred at the following SNOTEL sites: Bear Canyon 54 inches, Garfield Ranger Station 29 inches, Smiley Mountain 69 inches, Stickney Mill 20 inches, and Swede Peak 59 inches.

Wider weather episode

An extended atmospheric river event occurred for an entire week. Extremely heavy snow fell in the mountains with amounts at SNOTEL sites reaching as high as 5 to 8 feet for the week. Many roads closed through the mountains. Schools closed and some sheet flooding began mainly in Bingham and Minidoka counties where temperatures warmed significantly. Avalanches also occurred in the central mountains with the heavy snowfall accompanied with warmer temperatures. The storm wrapped up a month of record snowfall in the Upper Snake Highlands where the Island Park COOP observer recorded over 100 inches for the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810602. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.