Heavy Snow — Big Lost Highlands-copper Basin, Idaho

2021-01-27 to 2021-01-30 · Big Lost Highlands-copper Basin, Idaho

Event narrative

SNOTEL estimated snow totals were 35 inches at Bear Canyon, 24 inches at Garfield Ranger Station, 31 inches at Smiley Mountain, 18 inches at Stickney Mill, and 45 inches at Swede Peak.

Wider weather episode

A very strong atmospheric river event brought very heavy snow to the southeast Idaho mountains and the Sun Valley region. Amounts of over 2 feet of snow were very common in the drawn out event. 51 inches of snow fell at Bald Mountain at the Sun Valley ski resort and the resort shut down January 29th after several avalanches and the death of a skier.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 937285. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.