Potent weekend storm drops most snow seen this winter on Weiser and areas to the north

By: 
Steve Lyon
Weiser and areas to the north were walloped by a storm over the weekend that brought the heaviest snow amounts so far this winter.
 The snowfall totals were not uniform in the immediate area, with areas on the Weiser Flat receiving 7-8 inches and the city getting 3-4 inches of snow.  
 The snow started late Friday night and continued through the night into early Saturday. 
 True to the forecast and winter weather advisories issued by the National Weather Service on Friday, areas north of the Snake River, including Midvale, Cambridge and Council saw much more snow over the weekend than the Treasure Valley. 
 Enough snow fell in Weiser to get the city snowplows out to clear the major streets, especially those used by emergency vehicles like Park Street.
 City streets supervisor Pat Malay said crews spent about nine hours clearing snow off city streets with two snowplows, two graders and four backhoes. 
 It was the first time this winter that the city snowplows have been out.
 Washington County Road and Bridge employees were out plowing on both Saturday and Sunday. They ran into substantial snow up on the hills outside of Midvale and Cambridge and east to Dawson Pass. 
 In the upper reaches, there were 14 or so inches of snow to plow on some county roads.
 Supervisor Arlen Wilkins said the county had five snowplows and four graders out over the weekend. The amount of new snow that fell in the Midvale valley was about 5-6 inches.
 Although it’s February, local kids finally had enough snow to go sledding at Memorial Park and the hill at Park Intermediate School.
 The snow last weekend quickly made the numbers contained in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Feb. 1 snowpack and water outlook report outdated. 
 The weekend storm doubled the snowpack levels at Snotel sites in the Weiser River drainage in Washington and Adams counties.
 On Jan. 14, the Bear Saddle Snotel site at 6,180 feet in elevation reported 35 inches of snow. As of Feb. 12, the snowpack more than doubled to 84 inches of snow. 
 The Squaw Flat Snotel site, which is located at 6,240 feet, jumped from 39 inches on Jan. 14 to 90 inches on Feb. 12.
 The lower elevation Snotel site at Van Wyck, which sits at 4,920 feet in the Weiser River Basin, also recorded a significant increase in the snowpack, increasing from 18 inches on Jan. 14 to 38 inches on Feb. 12.

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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