BOISE, Idaho — **Idaho Power customers may be experiencing power outages due to wind and winter weather conditions. If you're experiencing an outage, check the Idaho Power outage map to see if the issue is in the process of being resolved. To report an outage in the Treasure Valley, call: (208)388-2323. Customers outside of the Treasure Valley, call: 1(800)488-6151. Sign up for updates and get the latest information on Idaho Power webpage here.
A potent winter storm is set to howl across eastern Oregon and southern Idaho Tuesday into Wednesday, bringing blizzard-like conditions to some areas and creating hazardous driving conditions for pretty much everyone in the region.
A burst of winter weather dropped several inches of snow on portions of the Treasure Valley and the West Central Mountains before sunrise Tuesday, with gusty winds making for limited visibility and tricky travel conditions as well.
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Southwest Idaho will be receiving snow mostly during the early morning hours Wednesday. A possible 1-2 inches of snow for the Treasure Valley and 2-4 inches of snow for the Boise Foothills. Winds will be gusty again Wednesday out of the northwest, 10-25 mph.
Wind combined with snow will be one of the biggest concerns with this system, especially in SE Oregon and far SW Idaho. Heavy snow colliding with strong, blustery winds will make travel especially hazardous in the high terrain as visibility could drop to zero; in particular, white-out conditions are expected in the Owyhee Mountains and the Camas Prairie, so BLIZZARD WARNINGS are in place for those areas from 11 a.m. Tuesday through at at least 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Winds in the mountains will be 35-55 mph during the day Tuesday, greatly reducing visibility when combined with falling snow.
Total snow accumulations from Monday through Thursday are expected to be anywhere from 2-4 inches for the Treasure and Magic valleys (highest amounts along the foothills near Boise), 12-18 inches for the Boise Mountains and West Central Mountains/Long Valley, and 4-6 inches for the east Central Mountains and the Wood River Valley.
Ski slopes like Brundage and Tamarack, and areas above 6,000 feet in the West Central Mountains, could pick up a whopping 30 inches of snow over the next few days!
Besides the blizzard warnings mentioned earlier, a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for the Upper Treasure Valley through 5 p.m. Wednesday for accumulating snow and gusty winds. A more significant WINTER STORM WARNING is in place for the West Central Mountains, Boise Mountains, the Magic Valley, and the Upper Weiser River Basin for moderate to heavy snow and wind gusts to 45 mph or greater. A backcountry AVALANCHE WARNING was also issued early Tuesday for the Sawtooth and Soldier Mountains, among others, for heavy snow and strong winds on an unstable, weak snowpack creating avalanche dangers.
Travel in the high country will be difficult to impossible at times, so please consider carefully your travel plans in the coming days. For live traffic cameras and road conditions/closures, check Idaho 511 for conditions across the state. TripCheck gives up-to-the-minute road conditions in Oregon.
After this storm, several more rounds of winter weather are anticipated off and on through the weekend, so be sure to tune into KTVB and KTVB.com to stay up to date on this complicated and busy forecast!
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