Alert archive / Idaho / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2015

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Pocatello, ID

July 15, 2015Butte County, Custer County, Idaho

NWS Pocatello, ID issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 2015, 1:40 PM MDT for Butte County, Custer County, Idaho. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 2015, 1:40 PM MDT (19:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 2015, 2:30 PM MDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Pocatello, ID
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Butte County, ID, Custer County, ID

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:44 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

Salt Lake City I, UT (KSLC), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 386 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, Salt Lake City I, UT at 12:00Z on 2015-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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, Salt Lake City I, UT at 12:00Z on 2015-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 149 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-252 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
251 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 15, 1:13 PM MDT, 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 1:13 PM MDT, 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
113 PM MDT WED JUL 15 2015

.SHORT TERM...TODAY AND THURSDAY. THE MAIN SYSTEM TO OUR WEST
CONTINUES TO PUSH EAST ACROSS IDAHO TODAY. THE FIRST ROUND OF
SHOWERS AND STORMS HAS PUSHED INTO WYOMING WHILE THE SECOND ROUND
IS FORMING ACROSS THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ALSO THE
SOUTHERN/EASTERN HIGHLANDS. THE BATCH UP NORTH IS EXPECTED TO PUSH
EAST ACROSS THE UPPER PLAIN AND HIGHLANDS THIS EVENING. WE WILL BE
WATCHING FOR ANY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES THAT COULD PUSH SOUTH AWAY
FROM THAT AREA AND PRODUCE STORMS. BY THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...WE
WILL SEE DRY CONDITIONS EVERYWHERE AS WESTERLY FLOW OVERTAKES THE
PATTERN BRIEFLY. WESTERLY FLOW CONTINUES THURSDAY AS THE SYSTEM
FROM CANADA SAGS SOUTHWARD AND INFLUENCES OUR WEATHER. EXPECT MOSTLY
DRY CONDITIONS WITH A FEW STORMS CLOSER TO THE LOW NEAR THE
MONTANA BORDER...AS WELL ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS AS A BIT OF
MOISTURE SNEAKS NORTH. OTHERWISE IT WILL BE BREEZY WITH MANY OF US
SEEING 15-20 MPH WINDS WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THERE WILL BE NO REAL
TEMPERATURE CHANGE AS WE REMAIN PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL IF NOT JUST
BELOW.  KEYES

.LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THE MODELS
ARE STRUGGLING MIGHTILY WITH THE PATTERN HEADING INTO THE
WEEKEND. WE WILL END UP IN SPLIT FLOW...BUT THE MAIN ISSUE IS HOW
MUCH STORMINESS WE WILL SEE ESPECIALLY ON SATURDAY. THIS IS DUE TO
WHAT EVENTUALLY HAPPENS WITH THE SPLIT AS IT CROSSES IDAHO. ALL
MODELS ARE SHOWING SOME SEMBLANCE OF A WAVE MOVING THROUGH BUT
THEY ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE ON ITS TRACK. THE FORECAST WILL FOCUS
ON THE MOUNTAINS FOR THE BEST CHANCE OF RAIN AND THUNDER WITH A
MUCH LOWER CHANCE FOR THE SNAKE PLAIN. BEYOND THAT...THE MODELS
ARE EVEN MORE CHAOTIC ON WHAT TO DO WITH THE SOUTHERN END OF THE
SPLIT FOR THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. IT SHOULD GET KICKED OUT
EVENTUALLY AS THE NEXT BIGGER LOW DROPS TOWARD THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST. IT DOES APPEAR THOUGH WE WILL SEE SOME SHOWERS AND
STORMS NO MATTER WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING AS SOME MOISTURE PUSHES
INTO THE STATE FROM THE SOUTH AND WEST. IT WILL JUST DEPEND ON IF
WE CAN TAP INTO ANY MONSOON MOISTURE AT SOME POINT. TEMPERATURES
COOL OVER THE WEEKEND WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S/LOW 80S IN THE
VALLEYS AND 60S FOR THE MOUNTAINS. NEXT WEEK...SHOULD SEE A
WARMING TREND AND PUSH US BACK INTO THE 70S AND 80S AREAWIDE. KEYES

&&

.AVIATION....UPPER SHORT WAVE OVER EASTERN IDAHO WILL CONTINUE
TRACKING EASTWARD...BUT COULD STILL SEE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON GIVEN THE INSTABILITY. EXPECT STORMS TO TRIGGER OVER
MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON WITH CLEARING LATER TONIGHT. HINSBERGER

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...MOUNTAINS MAY SEE SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS
EVENING...BUT THEY SHOULD DISSIPATE AROUND SUNSET. DRIER WEATHER IS
EXPECTED TOMORROW...BUT WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA TOMORROW
AFTERNOON ALONG A COLD FRONT. WINDS WILL PICK BACK UP AGAIN FRIDAY
AS AN UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO THE PAC NW. THE TROUGH WILL HELP
TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND MAY LINGER
INTO SATURDAY. IT APPEARS NEXT WEEK WILL BEGIN ON A DRY NOTE AS
RIDGING MOVES INTO THE AREA.  HINSBERGER

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 15, 12:32 PM MDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 12:32 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHButte43 min
Jul 15, 12:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHButte, Custer46 min
Jul 15, 2:32 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHButte58 min
Jul 15, 2:51 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHClark39 min
Jul 15, 3:01 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHFremont44 min
Jul 15, 3:31 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHJefferson, Madison44 min
Jul 15, 3:42 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHClark, Fremont48 min
Jul 15, 3:54 PM MDTTornado WarningPIHFremont, Jefferson, Madison51 min
Jul 15, 4:02 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBear Lake, Franklin58 min
Jul 15, 4:32 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHPower58 min
Jul 15, 4:38 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHCassia67 min
Jul 15, 4:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHCassia, Oneida, Power49 min
Jul 15, 4:51 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHFremont39 min
Jul 15, 4:56 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementPIHBingham49 min
Jul 15, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBingham30 min
Jul 15, 5:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHBannock, Oneida, Power55 min
Jul 15, 5:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPIHCaribou32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Idaho, 2015Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2015

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.