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May storm dumps snow on Treasure Valley, knocks out power

A late-season snowstorm created slick conditions and knocked down branches and trees in some neighborhoods Monday.

BOISE, Idaho — A late-season snowstorm dumped a significant amount of snow on the Treasure Valley Monday, downing trees and knocking out power to more than a thousand customers.

As of 9 a.m., .5 inches had been recorded at the Boise Airport, tying a record for the fifth-snowiest day in May since 1892. The mountains around Boise were hit even harder, with ten inches of new accumulation recorded at Bogus Basin. 

Typically, about .1 inch of snow falls in May, according to the National Weather Service. 

Idaho Power is still dealing with widespread weather-related power outages around the valley. Crews are responding now, according to the company, and will work to get electricity restored as quickly as possible. 

Although more than a thousand customers were affected at the peak of the outage, by 1 p.m. only a few hundred were waiting for the electricity to be restored. For information on outages in your neighborhood, click here. 

A Freeze Warning is in place through Tuesday morning, but the chilly weather won't last forever: Temperatures are expected to rise to nearly 80 degrees by Sunday. 

The storm knocked down branches and trees in some neighborhoods, including Boise's North End, where a fallen tree blocked the road entirely near Bella and 30th. Drivers were urged to expect slick conditions, slow down, and make sure windshields and vehicle windows are entirely cleared before heading out. 

Erica Holdridge, who lives in the North End, said she heard "a really loud crash" early Monday morning, but figured it was just snow dropping off a tree branch onto the roof of her metal shed. 

"When I came out to get the snow off of my car, I saw that there was a huge tree in the street," she said. "There are a lot of really big, old elms in this neighborhood, so that is one of the bigger ones that came down."

Janene Thomas, who lives down the street, said the large tree was the block's fifth to fall or be cut down after dropping large branches in the past year. The cold, windy weather had convinced her to come home early from a float trip before the Monday morning storm rolled in. 

"We were sleeping with the window open and I could hear, just down the street, the crack," she said. 

Thomas called the late-season freeze "a little surprising." 

Holdridge echoed the sentiment.

"Idaho - it's May," she said, laughing. "I don't know what the deal is, but it should not be snowing in May." 

To share your photos of the storm, visit our Idaho Weather Watchers Facebook page here.  

Credit: Don Essig/Idaho Weather Watchers
Monday's snowstorm downed branches in this Boise Foothills yard.

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