Alert archive / Idaho / Tornado Warnings in 2015

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Pocatello, ID

May 23, 2015Blaine County, Idaho

NWS Pocatello, ID issued this tornado warning at May 23, 2015, 6:31 PM MDT for Blaine County, Idaho. It was in force for 13 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 23, 2015, 6:31 PM MDT (00:31 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 2015, 6:44 PM MDT
In force: 13 min
Issued by: NWS Pocatello, ID
Area: Storm-based polygon

County Blaine County, ID

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:33 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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: 48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2028 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 166 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.

651 
WFUS55 KPIH 240031
TORPIH
IDC013-240130-
/O.NEW.KPIH.TO.W.0001.150524T0031Z-150524T0130Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
631 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN POCATELLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL BLAINE COUNTY IN CENTRAL IDAHO...

* UNTIL 730 PM MDT
    
* AT 631 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED
  NEAR BELLEVUE...OR 7 MILES SOUTH OF HAILEY...AND MOVING SOUTHWEST
  AT 10 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF
  WEST CENTRAL BLAINE COUNTY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT TAKE SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES. IF YOU
CANNOT SAFELY DRIVE AWAY FROM THE TORNADO...AS A LAST RESORT...EITHER
PARK YOUR VEHICLE AND STAY PUT...OR ABANDON YOUR VEHICLE AND LIE DOWN
IN A LOW LYING AREA AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 4338 11453 4347 11434 4333 11418 4328 11426
      4320 11436 4322 11434 4320 11437 4326 11437
      4326 11439 4333 11440 4333 11453 4336 11454
TIME...MOT...LOC 0031Z 055DEG 8KT 4341 11426 

$$
MESSICK

1 follow-up statement

625 
WWUS55 KPIH 240044
SVSPIH

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
644 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

IDC013-240053-
/O.CAN.KPIH.TO.W.0001.000000T0000Z-150524T0130Z/
BLAINE ID-
644 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR WEST CENTRAL BLAINE COUNTY IS CANCELLED...
                
THE STORM WHICH PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED BELOW SEVERE
LIMITS...AND NO LONGER APPEARS TO BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.
THEREFORE THE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LAT...LON 4338 11453 4347 11434 4333 11418 4328 11426
      4320 11436 4322 11434 4320 11437 4326 11437
      4326 11439 4333 11440 4333 11453 4336 11454
TIME...MOT...LOC 0036Z 055DEG 8KT 4339 11429 

$$

MESSICK

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.

NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 23, 1:00 PM MDT, 5 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:00 PM MDT, 5 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
100 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS CENTERED OVER EASTERN UTAH THIS
AFTERNOON. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED
ACROSS THE AREA IN RESPONSE TO DAYTIME HEATING AND THE PROXIMITY
OF THE LOW. BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ALONG WITH SMALL HAIL ARE
POSSIBLE WITH SOME STORMS. EXPECT MOST OF THIS ACTIVITY TO
DIMINISH TONIGHT. THE LOW WILL MOVE FROM WESTERN COLORADO INTO
EASTERN WYOMING ON SUNDAY. THE LOW WILL REMAIN CLOSE ENOUGH TO
TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN ON SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH
COVERAGE SHOULD BE LESS AND MAINLY BUT NOT ENTIRELY CONTAINED TO
THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. THE NEXT LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA ON MONDAY FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE
NAM AND GFS DIFFER SLIGHTLY ON THE POSITION OF THE LOW. BUT
BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE...THE GFS HAS MORE CONVECTION OVER
THE REGION THAN THE NAM. AT THIS TIME...FAVOR THE GFS WHICH SEEMS
MORE CONSISTENT. THIS WILL PRODUCE GOOD CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WITH LESSER CHANCES
ELSEWHERE.

VALLE

.LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY. WE ARE STILL LOOKING AT
DAILY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO. THE PATTERN
WILL BE A BIT DIFFERENT THOUGH AS THE LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING
WILL BE TO OUR NORTH. FOR TUESDAY...THE MODELS ARE SHOWING SOME
SUBTLE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. ALL OF THEM HOLD THE LOW ACROSS THE
IDAHO PANHANDLE/EASTERN WASHINGTON. HOWEVER...THE TIMING OF A
BOUNDARY MOVING THROUGH IS DIFFERENT. THE NAM AND TO SOME EXTENT
PUSHES EVERYTHING EAST COMPARED TO THE GFS. IT WILL STILL BE STORMY
ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA...BUT THE BOUNDARY WILL DETERMINE WHERE THE
HIGHEST COVERAGE AND POTENTIAL FOR STRONGER STORMS WILL BE IN THE
AFTERNOON. THAT STORM WILL INCH EASTWARD AND WEAKEN THROUGH THE REST
OF THE WEEK. WHAT THAT MEANS IS...MORE RAIN FOR A GOOD CHUNK OF
EASTERN IDAHO. IT DOES APPEAR THAT WE WILL SEE DRIER AIR WORKING UP
THE SNAKE PLAIN. THAT COULD DRY OUT THOSE AREAS A BIT...BUT WITH ALL
THIS MOISTURE AROUND FROM RECENT RAINY DAYS THE EXTRA SUN COULD FUEL
STRONGER STORMS ALSO. WE DID REDUCE THE CHANCE IN THE FORECAST BUT
THAT MIGHT NOT END UP BEING A SWING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. HIGH
PRESSURE TRIES TO BUILD OVER THE STATE BY NEXT WEEKEND. WILL THAT
SPELL AN END TO ALL OF THIS RAIN? LIKELY NOT A COMPLETE END AS THE
MODELS STILL SHOW SHOWERS AND STORMS POPPING UP. IT MAY END UP
STORMY...BUT COVERAGE IS LESS. KEYES

&&

.AVIATION...SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS WILL BE AROUND THROUGH THIS
EVENING. A MORE PERSISTENT BAND OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDER
LINGERS AROUND KIDA AND KPIH. ELSEWHERE...WE ARE SEEING SOME HEATING
THAT IS FUELING REDEVELOPMENT. ALL AIRPORTS WILL HAVE -SHRA VCTS IN
THE TAF UNTIL SUNSET. WE ARE LOOKING FOR THINGS TO TRY AND DIE DOWN
OVERNIGHT...BUT NOT TOTALLY. WE KEPT VCSH GOING...WITH THE
EXPECTATION THAT COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL EXPAND LATE
SUNDAY MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. WE'VE SEE SOME LINGER MVFR
CEILINGS WHERE WE HAD GOOD RAIN THIS MORNING. WE WILL NEED TO WATCH
THAT AGAIN TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH THE ONLY AIRPORTS THAT MIGHT SEE IT
WOULD BE KIDA AND KPIH. KEYES

&&

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 23, 3:18 PM MDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
318 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

IDZ020-021-023-232245-
UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN ID-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN ID-
CARIBOU HIGHLANDS ID-
318 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

...CENTRAL BINGHAM...NORTHWESTERN BANNOCK...NORTH CENTRAL BONNEVILLE
AND NORTHEASTERN POWER COUNTIES UNTIL 445 PM MDT...

AT 314 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
AMMON...MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH.

THIS STORM IS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS...LARGE AMOUNTS OF
SMALL HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  PERSONS LOCATED IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IF OUTSIDE.

THIS STORM COULD REACH THE  POCATELLO AREA AROUND 445 PM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
IDAHO FALLS...POCATELLO...BLACKFOOT...GOSHEN...EASTERN AMERICAN FALLS
RESERVOIR...CHUBBUCK...AMMON...SHELLEY...INKOM...FIRTH...FORT HALL
BUFFALO LODGE...FORT HALL LINCOLN CREEK LODGE...FORT HALL TOWNSITE...
FORT HALL MOUNT PUTNAM...FORT HALL PUTNAM LODGE...ROSE...FORT HALL
EAGLE LODGE...POCATELLO AIRPORT...GROVELAND AND BASALT.

LAT...LON 4352 11206 4345 11183 4280 11223 4295 11268
TIME...MOT...LOC 2114Z 022DEG 21KT 4342 11199

MESSICK

Special weather statement, May 23, 3:58 PM MDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
358 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

IDZ017-232330-
EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY ID-
358 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

...SOUTHEASTERN LINCOLN AND CENTRAL MINIDOKA COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM
MDT...

AT 356 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 20
MILES NORTHWEST OF MINIDOKA...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL BRING VERY HEAVY RAINSHOWERS...LARGE AMOUNTS OF
SMALL HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING TO SOUTHEAST LINCOLN COUNTY AND
WESTERN MINIDOKA COUNTY. IT WILL EXIT THESE COUNTIES...ENTERING
JEROME COUNTY AROUND 600 PM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
KIMAMA AND LAIDLAW CORRALS AIRPORT.

LAT...LON 4274 11393 4276 11393 4276 11402 4277 11405
      4281 11405 4281 11420 4282 11425 4310 11374
      4297 11358 4269 11372
TIME...MOT...LOC 2156Z 048DEG 12KT 4299 11374

MESSICK

Special weather statement, May 23, 4:43 PM MDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
443 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

IDZ017-020-021-232330-
EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY ID-UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN ID-
LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN ID-
443 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

...WESTERN BINGHAM...NORTHWESTERN BANNOCK...SOUTHEASTERN BLAINE...
SOUTHEASTERN BUTTE...WESTERN BONNEVILLE AND NORTH CENTRAL POWER
COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM MDT...

AT 440 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
NORTHWEST INL TO SOUTHEAST INL TO 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF TABER...AND
MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 35 MPH.

THIS STORM IS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINSHOWERS...LARGE AMOUNTS OF
SMALL HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD SEEK
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. THE STORM WILL REACH TABER AREA BY 500
PM...AND THE AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOI AROUND 530 PM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOIR...ABERDEEN...ATOMIC CITY...SOUTHWEST INL...
SPRINGFIELD...CENTRAL INL...TABER...ROCKFORD...MORELAND...PINGREE...
SOUTHEAST INL...POCATELLO AIRPORT...BIG SOUTHERN BUTTE...STERLING AND
EAST BUTTE.

LAT...LON 4332 11335 4305 11300 4282 11266 4338 11236
      4357 11263 4378 11291
TIME...MOT...LOC 2240Z 028DEG 30KT 4374 11284 4358 11262 4345 11243

MESSICK

Local storm report, May 23, 5:36 PM MDT, 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
536 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0532 PM     HAIL             SE ARCO                 43.63N 113.30W
05/23/2015  E0.25 INCH       BUTTE              ID   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PEA SIZE HAIL

&&

DPHELPS

Local storm report, May 23, 6:08 PM MDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
608 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0607 PM     AVALANCHE        16 SE IDAHO FALLS       43.33N 111.81W
05/23/2015                   BONNEVILLE         ID   CO-OP OBSERVER

            BONE IDAHO RECIVED 0.93 INCHES OF RAIN SO FAR TODAY.

&&

DPHELPS

Local storm report, May 23, 6:10 PM MDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
610 PM MDT SAT MAY 23 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

&&

DPHELPS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 6:19 PM MDT	Areal Flood Advisory	PIH	Blaine	5 hr
May 24, 1:25 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	PIH	Minidoka	65 min
May 24, 2:37 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	PIH	Power	38 min
May 24, 2:59 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	PIH	Bannock	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Idaho, 2015 Every tornado warning in 2015 Tornadoes 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.