Winter Storm — Lost River Valleys, Idaho

2019-02-23 to 2019-02-28 · Lost River Valleys, Idaho

Event narrative

Snow and wind caused extremely hazardous travel with US Highway 20 from Carey to Arco closed for several day. Butte County schools were closed on the 25th due to road conditions.

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 810652. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.