Alert archive / Idaho / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Boise, ID

September 4, 1995Owyhee County, Idaho

NWS Boise, ID issued this tornado warning at Sep 4, 1995, 3:15 PM MDT for Owyhee County, Idaho. It was in force for 45 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 1995, 3:15 PM MDT (21:15 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 1995, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Boise, ID
Area
Whole counties

County Owyhee County, ID

The radar

The Boise radar (KCBX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 110 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 1995-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 27 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 1995-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-383 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2284 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 KBOI 042119 COR
TORBOI
IDC073-042200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
315 PM MDT MON SEP 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BOISE ID HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN OWYHEE COUNTY
 
AT 313 PM MDT BOISE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 5
MILES SOUTHEAST OF JUNIPER MOUNTAIN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT AROUND 20 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
DEVOIR/GERBER

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

Special weather statement, Sep 4, 2:20 PM MDT, 55 minutes before
IDZ001-002-005-006-ORZ012-042115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
220 PM MDT (120 PM PDT) MON SEP 4 1995

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHEAST OREGON AND
SOUTHWEST IDAHO...

AT 214 PM MDT BOISE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL NEWLY FORMED
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST MALHEUR AND SOUTHWEST OWYHEE COUNTIES.
ALTHOUGH THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER REMOTE LAND AREAS...
THEY ARE LIKELY TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AND GAIN STRENGTH AS THE
AFTERNOON WEARS ON.  HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND
GUSTY WINDS ARE ALL POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVE
NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH.

PERSONS ENJOYING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ON THIS LABOR DAY IN SOUTHEAST
OREGON AND SOUTHWEST IDAHO SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SEEK SHELTER AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THREATENING
WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR
FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE FOR UPDATES.

DEVOIR
Special weather statement, Sep 4, 2:56 PM MDT, 19 minutes before
IDZ001-002-005-006-ORZ012-042115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
220 PM MDT (120 PM PDT) MON SEP 4 1995

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHEAST OREGON AND
SOUTHWEST IDAHO...

AT 214 PM MDT BOISE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL NEWLY FORMED
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST MALHEUR AND SOUTHWEST OWYHEE COUNTIES.
ALTHOUGH THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER REMOTE LAND AREAS...
THEY ARE LIKELY TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AND GAIN STRENGTH AS THE
AFTERNOON WEARS ON.  HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND
GUSTY WINDS ARE ALL POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVE
NORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH.

PERSONS ENJOYING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ON THIS LABOR DAY IN SOUTHEAST
OREGON AND SOUTHWEST IDAHO SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SEEK SHELTER AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THREATENING
WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR
FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE FOR UPDATES.

DEVOIR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 1:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOIOwyhee65 min
Sep 4, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOIOwyhee62 min
Sep 4, 4:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOIOwyhee59 min
Sep 4, 5:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOIOwyhee59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Idaho, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.