Winter Storm — Frank Church Wilderness, Idaho

2019-02-23 to 2019-02-28 · Frank Church Wilderness, Idaho

Event narrative

An atmospheric river event brought incredibly heavy snow to the Frank Church Wilderness. Although a data sparse region, the Mill Creek Summit SNOTEL site recorded 46.5 inches of snow.

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 810649. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.