Heavy Snow — Idaho Palouse, Idaho

2020-01-10 to 2020-01-11 · Idaho Palouse, Idaho

Event narrative

A weather spotter near Viola reported 6.0 inches of new snow accumulation.

Wider weather episode

The third week of January brought very active winter weather to the Inland Northwest as a series of surface low pressures tracked along a stalled arctic air mass boundary laying near or over eastern Washington and north Idaho. Occasional feeds of Pacific moisture directed into this storm track lead to periodic heavy accumulations of snow across the region through the week. During the whole week of repeated snow storms many northern valley locations received 2 to 3 feet of snow accumulation with some mountain ski resorts reporting 4 to 5 feet of fresh powder.

The first surface low pressure system tracked through northern Washington and Idaho on January 10th and 11th. A stationary front followed by a cold front produced a period of accumulating snow across the region.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 870893. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.