Boise just experienced a snowstorm not seen in nearly 120 years. Here’s what happened

Boise residents woke up Thursday morning to a fresh, thick layer of snow covering their cars, trees and roads.

Snow is not an uncommon sight in Boise, except when it happens so late in March. In fact, the City of Trees had not seen a snowstorm of this magnitude in late March since 1905.

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, Boise had picked up 2.8 inches of snow, National Weather Service meteorologist Stefanie Henry told the Idaho Statesman. Henry said she expected the snow to transition to rain around noon, after another tenth of an inch or so of snowfall.

That would bring Boise incredibly close to the daily record snowfall total of 3.2 inches for March 30, set in 1905.

“It’s really rare to have snowfall this far late (in the season),” Henry said.

Bogus Basin has benefited from the late-season snowfall. The Weather Service had recorded a fresh 13 inches of snow at the ski resort at 9 a.m. on Thursday, and Henry expected the higher elevations to receive at least 2 more inches before the storm passed through.

If that isn’t enough, a second storm system this weekend could drop up to 2 feet of snow on Bogus Basin. Snow will likely fall in Boise on Sunday evening, but the Weather Service forecasts less than half an inch for downtown.

A snowy and cold March

Including the 2.8 inches that fell on Boise through Thursday morning, the city has picked up 9 inches of snow in March, Henry said. That ranks this March as the sixth-snowiest on record, with the potential to climb and leapfrog fifth-place 1906 (9.1 inches) and fourth-place 1952 (9.2 inches).