Alert archive / Idaho / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Pocatello, ID

August 17, 1990Bannock County, Power County, Idaho

NWS Pocatello, ID issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1990, 1:28 PM MDT for Bannock County, Power County, Idaho. It was in force for 62 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Aug 17, 1990, 1:28 PM MDT (19:28 UTC)
Expired: Aug 17, 1990, 2:30 PM MDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Pocatello, ID
Area: Whole counties

Counties Bannock County, ID, Power County, ID

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Aug 17, 2:12 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Power, ID
Aug 17, 2:20 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Power, ID
Aug 17, 2:25 PM MDT	Tornado F2	Power, ID

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Salt Lake City I, UT (KSLC), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 218 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 123 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -136 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1157 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPIH 171937 COR
TORPIH
IDC005-077-172030-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
128 PM MDT FRI AUG 17 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN POCATELLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... S...

IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO

   ...BANNOCK COUNTY...POWER COUNTY

...THIS TORNADO WARNING IS FOR PERSONS IN AMERICAN FALLS AND POCATELLO
VICINITY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICALS HAVE
OBSERVED A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE POCATELLO AIRPORT AT 120
PM MDT. FUNNEL CLOUDS AND OTHER TORNADOS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED IN POWER
COUNTY FROM THE WESTERN EDGE TO THE ARBON VALLEY.

THE TORNADOS AND FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT
ABOUT 20 MPH AND SHOULD BE CLEAR OF THE ABOVE COUNTY WITHIN THE
NEXT HOUR OR BY 230PM MDT.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADOO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

END...WSO PIH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 17, 8:40 AM MDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
845 PM MDT THU AUG 16 1990

TIME:(MDT)   EVENT...HEAVY RAINS OF 8/16/90...

200 PM       SPOTTER AT BANCROFT, CARIBOU COUNTY, REPORTS 2 INCH
             RAINFALL IN ONE HOUR FROM THUNDERSTORM.

205 PM       CALL TO PALISADES RESERVOIR RECREATION AREA. NO RAIN YET.

300 PM       CARIBOU COUNTY SHERIFF IN SODA SPRINGS.  HEAVY RAINFALL
             BUT NO FLOODING REPORTED.

315 PM       CALL TO BONNEVILLE COUNTY SHERIFF IN IDAHO FALLS.  NO
             REPORTS OF HEAVY RAINFALL.

335 PM       OBSERVER ON RAPID CREEK NEAR INKOM.  0.30 INCH OF RAIN
             IN PAST HOUR OR SO.

355 PM       CALL FROM ONEIDA COUNTY SHERIFF, MALAD CITY, MODERATE
             RAIN.  NO FLOODING.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PERTAINING TO RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON THE 16TH ARE:

1. AT ROBIN, A VILLAGE WEST OF MCCAMMON, THAT FLASH FLOODING OCCURRED
   FROM 2 INCHES OR RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. DRAINAGE DITCHES
   WERE OVERFLOWING, OTHERWISE NO MAJOR DAMAGES AS IS AN AGRICULTURAL
   AREA.

2. MCCAMMON RECEIVED .43 INCH ON THE 16TH AS WELL AS .48 IN THE NIGHT
   OF THE 15TH. (THEY WERE NOT HOME YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.)

WSO PIH...JF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pocatello, ID issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 17, 2:04 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PIH	Bannock, Power	26 min
Aug 17, 2:47 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PIH	Oneida, Power	58 min
Aug 17, 2:47 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PIH	Bingham, Bonneville	58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Idaho, 1990 Every tornado warning in 1990 Tornadoes in 1990

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.