How much snow fell during Boise’s 2024 ‘Snowmageddon’? Here’s how it ranked historically
Congratulations, Boise. We survived Snowmageddon 2024.
Snow still clings to rooftops, and slushy alleyways remind us of what once was during a series of storms earlier this month. But with high temperatures back up to the 40s, Boise is slowly trading the snow for its traditional concrete pavements and gravel roads.
So, how much snow did Boise end up getting? Once tallied, how does the snowfall of winter 2024 stack up to previous snowy years, including the original Snowmageddon of 2017?
Here are the numbers.
How much snow did Boise get?
Boise’s winter started mostly uneventful, with only 3.8 inches of snow falling before the New Year, about 3.9 inches less than average.
But 2024 arrived with a bang, with the first snowfall of the year on Jan. 3. It was only 0.2 inches, but it became the first of 15 days with at least a trace of snowfall in Boise.
Over that stretch, Boise had 10 days with measurable snowfall and six days when at least one inch fell. The heaviest snowfall occurred on Jan. 13, when 6.8 inches fell. The same snowstorm started the night prior, when an additional 2 inches dropped before midnight on Jan. 12.
From the start of Snowmageddon to the final snowfall on Jan. 17, Boise saw 22.1 inches of snow, which is 16.8 inches more than what is usually seen in January.
Where does Snowmageddon 2024 stack up historically?
Winter 2017 is remembered infamously as Boise’s original Snowmageddon, with a snow depth of 15 inches measured at the Boise Airport during the event’s peak.
This year’s version of Snowmageddon didn’t produce quite as crazy snow depths, but it did produce more snow in a shorter period. Snowmageddon 2017 saw 27.7 inches of snow across 28 days, starting Dec. 14, 2016, and lasting until Jan. 10, 2017.
That’s opposed to the 22.1 inches that fell in just 15 days this year.
“Overall, snowmageddon (2017) was colder and snowier, but this winter, our snow has fallen in a shorter period of time,” National Weather Service meteorologist Spencer Tangen told the Idaho Statesman. “We also had continuous snow cover for 52 days in Boise during the 2016-2017 winter, the 5th-longest streak on record going back to 1940.”
Overall, January 2024 ranks as the seventh-snowiest month in Boise history. That record will likely remain stationary, with no snow and warmer temperatures in the forecast for Boise for at least the next week.
Here’s where this past Snowmageddon stacks up historically, with data going back to 1892:
January 1929: 27 inches
January 1930: 26.8 inches
December 1983: 26.2 inches
January 1937: 25.5 inches
February 1949: 25.2 inches
February 1916: 24.2 inches
January 2024: 22.1 inches
January 2017: 21.5 inches
January 1964: 21.4 inches
December 2008: 20.2 inches
