Snow day: Record snowstorm blankets valley, closes schools

This is a lot of snow for Boise – a lot. Yesterday’s official 3.3 inches broke the record for the date of 2.3 inches set in 1947; plenty more has fallen since then, and schools are closed across the valley. There’s more than 6 inches here in the Boise foothills; Bogus Basin so far has gotten just under 4 inches. Ada County Sheriff’s dispatch reported 237 weather-related slide-offs and crashes yesterday; this morning, as of 9 a.m. it had responded to another 44 weather-related crashes, five with injuries, and four slide-offs since midnight. KBOI Radio has a list of school closures here .

According to the National Weather Service, the official snowfall total for Boise reached 5.6 inches at 9:20 this morning, and it’s still snowing hard. Lowman has received 14 inches. A winter storm warning is in effect until 2 p.m.; the forecast calls for rain and snow with a chance of freezing rain, and temperatures rising to 35 to 40 later today, with the chance of precipitation near 100 percent. Tonight’s forecast is mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers in the evening and temperatures falling into the teens.